Exemptions added to smoke ban

Publication Date: 2009-02-11

• Author:Shari Rudavsky
• Publication:Indianapolis Star

A bill that would ban smoking in many workplaces throughout the state but not bars and casinos edged out of a House committee today.

By a vote of 7-5, the House Committee on Public Policy approved a heavily amended measure that would make it illegal to smoke in most public work spaces. The committee amended the bill to exempt casinos and places that employ and serve alcohol only to those older than 18.

Casinos would have to designate 20 percent of their gaming positions as non-smoking.

The amended bill also included a stipulation that local communities that want to have more restrictive laws than the state must have such legislation in place by 2010.

All these amendments disappointed proponents of the no-smoking measure.

"The committee decided to protect some workers and not others," said Tim Filler, grassroots committee chair of the Indiana Campaign for Smokefree Air.