Daniels wants strict smoking ban, but will accept lenient bill

Gov. Mitch Daniels said Friday he will accept a weakened smoking ban if that's what it takes to get some sort of smoke-free measure approved in his final year as governor.

The House passed a ban that would only exempt Indiana's gambling industry, private clubs and tobacco and cigar stores. But the Senate greatly weakened the measure this week by cutting bars out of the proposed ban, expanding the exemptions approved by the House and adding new carve-outs for assorted businesses like veterans homes and nursing homes.

Daniels said he prefers the House version, but he'll accept a compromise.

"I hope the final blending of the two bills will be a strong one," he said.

House and Senate negotiators are scheduled to meet Monday to hash out a compromise. The Senate approved a statewide smoking ban for the first time this week after years of House lawmakers approving bans only to see them die in the Senate. Daniels, who is term-limited, included the smoking ban in his final legislative agenda.

Senate Democratic Leader Vi Simpson, one of the Senate negotiators on the conference committee, said Thursday she also would accept an exemption for bars. Rep. Charlie Brown, a Gary Democrat and one of the House negotiators, said earlier in the week he would grudgingly agree to a carve-out for bars if that's what was needed for a compromise measure to pass the Senate.

Republican Senate President Pro Tem David Long, of Fort Wayne, said the exemption for bars was necessary to get support from lawmakers like himself, who had opposed previous attempts to ban smoking. The weakened measure made it through the Senate earlier this week on a vote of 29-21.