Smoking ban rides wave of midseason deadline

Publication Date: 2010-02-02

• Author:Eric Bradner
• Publication:Evansville (IN) Courier & Press

Final vote due today or Wednesday

As state lawmakers near a key midsession deadline, a statewide smoking ban is slated to receive a final vote in the Indiana House today or Wednesday.

Wednesday is the last day for the House to pass bills over to the Senate, and vice versa. Rushing to advance as many bills as possible before that deadline, members of the General Assembly will be working late.

House Bill 1131, written by Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, originally sought to ban smoking in public places except casinos and horse-racing tracks.

Exceptions added by the House last week include bars, taverns and tobacco shops. But Brown fended off other major changes Monday, readying the bill for a final vote with no extra exceptions.