LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) _ A top state health official is promising that a push for a statewide ban on smoking will continue next year.

The Kansas Health Policy Authority pushed for a ban this year in most public places, including restaurants. The idea also had the support of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

It drew strong opposition from business groups, and neither the House nor the Senate voted on the idea this year.

But Executive Director Marcia Nielsen says the health authority will ask legislators to pass a bill next year. And she says it probably has a better chance of passing because 2009 is not an election year.

Nielsen made her comments Wednesday during a retreat for the staff of Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)