Bid for state smoking ban may be up in smoke-WEB ONLY

Indiana lawmakers are clashing over whether they should try to pass a
watered-down bill or sacrifice this year’s proposal in hopes of passing a
stricter rule later.

The Democrat-controlled House approved legislation last month that would ban
smoking in some places while allowing it in casinos and many bars. But the
proposal has hit a snag in the GOP-led Senate, where the bill’s sponsor does not
want exemptions included in the legislation.

The Senate’s public policy committee is unlikely to approve a strict smoking
ban, said chairman Sen. Ron Alting (R-Lafayette). Alting personally supports a
ban without exemptions, but he said he’s not going to waste time hearing
testimony about the bill if it has no future.

“Right now, there’s not support,” Alting said yesterday. “I’m not going to take
four hours in a committee hearing and a day out of taxpayers’ money when I know
the bill will not get out of committee. I’m not here for political
posturing.”

Sen. Gary Dillon, a Republican from Pierceton who is sponsoring the bill in
the Senate, noted that there is still time left to push for a strict ban during
this legislative session, which ends April 29. But if lawmakers approve a weaker
version of the bill, he said, they might not revisit the issue for years.

“If we pass something, then we’re going to think that the job is done,”
Dillon said. “That’s my concern.”

Nonsmoking advocates agree with Dillon.

“We would rather have it die on the vine than to move forward with a bill we
oppose,” said Tim Filler, with the Indiana Campaign for Smokefree Air.

Filler said it doesn’t make sense for some Indiana residents to work in
smoke-free environments, while casino and bar employees have to suffer the
consequences of second-hand smoke. But supporters of the statewide smoking ban
said they are still working to persuade senators to support a comprehensive
ban.