The City-County Council passed a stronger smoking ban covering most bars Monday night, but the mayor's opposition to one key provision could keep it from becoming law.
Applause greeted the 19-9 vote -- one vote shy of the 20 that would be needed to override a potential veto. Anti-smoking advocates planned to rally supporters and put pressure on Mayor Greg Ballard to sign the measure.
But Ballard has vowed a veto.
His sticking point: The measure's exemption for nonprofit private clubs and veterans halls, which Ballard insisted upon, would make those places pick between retaining smoking or allowing children on the premises. He sees that choice as unfair.
The smoking ban proposal's sponsors -- and leaders of the council's Democratic majority -- insist it's a matter of protecting children from harmful smoke.
And so, in their first attempt at crafting major policy together in a new era of divided government, the Democratic council and Republican mayor look likely to come up short.
Both sides engaged in finger-pointing Monday. Both said they had compromised enough.
"We have done our part," Council President Maggie Lewis said after the meeting. She pointed out that the proposal's sponsors acceded to Ballard by granting exemptions for the private clubs as well as cigar and hookah bars.
"I will sleep well tonight knowing I did my part," Lewis said.
A separate effort to ban smoking is still alive at the other end of Market Street.
Today, the Indiana House could vote on a bill that would adopt a statewide smoking ban for most workplaces, with bars getting an 18-month delay. If passed, the measure will go to the Senate. Gov. Mitch Daniels has signaled his general support.
The council proposal would add most bars, bowling alleys and hotel rooms to Indianapolis' existing 2005 smoking ban. Additional exemptions would cover retail tobacco shops and Downtown's off-track betting parlor.
The Statehouse bill has similar provisions and exemptions.
Anti-smoking coalition Smoke Free Indy issued a statement celebrating Monday's council vote, adding: "We encourage Mayor Ballard to keep the promise he made in 2007, 2011 and most recently this past November. Keep Indy moving forward and sign Proposal 18."
Council efforts to ban smoking at bars have long enjoyed bipartisan backing.
But over more than two years and three proposals -- including the one that passed Monday -- the fight has focused on the details. Ballard has been a roadblock, only recently warming to the idea.
The retired Marine has fixed on getting the exemption for clubs and veterans halls just right, without meddling over whether to allow children.
"Let private clubs be private," Ballard said Monday after a Super Bowl news conference. "We don't go into people's homes. . . . These people can take care of their facility. That's the whole point."
By anti-smoking advocates' estimate, the proposal would decrease the number of workplaces that allow smoking from 370 to 60 or fewer. Of those potential exemptions, about three dozen are private clubs, veterans halls and fraternal organizations.
Some smoking ban supporters backed a failed amendment, offered by Republican Ryan Vaughn, that would have removed the restriction on children in clubs that keep smoking.
For the final vote, three Republicans joined all 16 Democrats to pass the proposal. The debate lasted less than 20 minutes.
One unexpected "no" vote: Vaughn, a longtime smoking ban supporter. He said sending the unchanged measure to the mayor was pointless.
"I fully expect to see this issue back before the council," he said.
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