The proposed statewide smoking ban is still alive in the General Assembly but it faces an uncertain future.

The vote was 29-to-21 in the state Senate for a version of the smoking ban that, one Senator said, has so many holes in it, it’s not really a smoking ban.  That vote will send the smoking bill to a House-Senate conference committee where key lawmakers will try to produce a compromise that the governor will sign.

Much of the debate this afternoon centered on government intervention into private lives.  “It’s just a matter of time before we’ll have government tell us what will be on our menus,” said Sen. Jim Tomes (R-Wadesville,) “how much we’re allowed to weigh.  Sugar is going to be regulated like tobacco and alcohol.”

Sen. Vi Simpson (D-Minority Leader) responded by saying, “We have a responsibility, absolutely, Senator Tomes, to protect individual rights, but,” she said, “we also have to make sure that one person’s individual rights doesn’t impose on somebody else’s.”

As it stands now the smoking ban has exemptions for bars and taverns, nursing homes, mental health facilities, private clubs and more.  Indiana is one of just 13 states with no comprehensive statewide smoking ban.