Jefferson City, MO – Though the recent trend in Missouri has been to go smoke free, the Missouri House voted Thursday to continue to allow smoking in members' offices in the Capitol building.
Smoking is already banned on the House floor and in the public viewing chambers above. But an attempt was made Thursday to extend that ban to the entire House side of the State Capitol, including the individual offices of every House member. The measure was sponsored by Democrat Jeanette Mott Oxford of St. Louis.
"We should care about the air that we share and being a good (role) model for the school children that visit this building by voting to making this a space that is free of second-hand smoke," Oxford said.
But House Majority Leader Time Jones of Eureka argued that lawmakers who smoke should be allowed to do so in their own offices. The measure was defeated on a mainly party line vote. Representatives did vote, however, to ban smoking from a back gallery where lawmakers regularly take breaks.