INDIANAPOLIS —One long-looming issue lawmakers must decide in the second half of their 2012 session – whether Indiana should adopt a statewide public smoking ban – is now in the state Senate’s hands.
The House approved a ban that includes restaurants and, after 18 months, bars, but exempts casinos, cigar and hookah bars and fraternal clubs, Tuesday on a 62-34 vote. It was no surprise, since similar bans have passed there for six consecutive years.
Where the ban’s fate is much less clear is the Senate. Last year was the first time it was even given a hearing, and the ban was snuffed out in the Senate Public Policy Committee after the American Cancer Society complained that it contained so many exemptions that it undermined the effort.
The biggest point of contention remains what areas should be excluded from the ban. For it to attract enough votes, House proponents said, those currently in House Bill 1149 area a must; the Senate could opt to add others.
“What we’ve tried to do with this bill is find that sweet spot that minimizes the number of exemptions and maximizes the number of work places and public places that are smoke free,” said its author, Rep. Eric Turner, R-Marion.
“We’re not breaking new ground here. More than 50 percent of the U.S. population has a comprehensive smoking ban in place today. Twenty-nine states have a comprehensive smoke-free law, and 22 of those include all bars and taverns,” he said.
Rep. David Niezgodski, D-South Bend, said he opposed the bill because it subjects casino employees to “killing.” He said casinos should not be exempt.
Evansville’s city council could soon vote on an attempt to strengthen the city’s ordinance to include both bars and Casino Aztar. If that stronger ordinance is adopted, it would supersede the state’s under the current version of the smoking ban bill.