Smoking ban clears Indiana House

Publication Date: 2011-02-01

• Author:Mary Beth Schneider
• Publication:Indianapolis Star

Smoking would be snuffed out in many public places, including restaurants, in a bill that passed the Indiana House 68-31 on Monday.

It now moves to the Senate, where similar legislation has died the past four years.

This year, supporters hope the Senate will not only pass the bill, but will make it even stronger by removing exemptions in it.

The House had whittled away at the smoking ban in House Bill 1018, exempting casinos and those taverns that admit only adults while also letting nursing homes and fraternal clubs, such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars, have smoking areas.

While no smoking-ban bill has gotten a hearing in the Senate in the past, Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said it will be considered this year. In addition, Gov. Mitch Daniels has said he would sign the bill into law if it reaches his desk.