Senator Peter Micciche feels confident that his bill which would prohibit smoking in public businesses with one or more employees will be passed by the Alaska House since it is a cost saving measure.
Sen. Micciche(R-K. Pen): “It got 17 votes out of 20 in the Senate, we think we have an equal proportion in the House, and remember, the potential savings is $67 million to Alaska medicaid per year.”
Those savings would be incurred by the state by employees not having health issues related to breathing secondhand smoke.
He says compared to other budget legislation, Senate Bill 1 is among the top 15 percent of proposals in regards to potential savings.
Sen. Micciche(R-K. Pen): “So when you look at the lense that they’re looking at, and consider that the support in 2012 statewide, according to Dittman [Research], went from 82 percent to 88 percent in 2015 that Alaskans believe in this law. We think it’s got a very good chance of passing for the right reasons and that’s for public health and significant savings.”
The State House passed a resolution on Monday that committees will only take up bills related to finding places to cut spending or generate revenue until they pass the budget to the Senate.