By Tracy Overstreet
tracy.overstreet@theindependent.com

"We're just trying to do the best thing for the community," Councilwoman Joyce Haase said.

Haase initially proposed that city voters decide the smoking ban issue and the majority of her council colleagues agreed. The council voted 6-4 on Feb. 12 to send the matter to a public vote May 13.

But the council and Mayor Margaret Hornady think now it may be best to save the money on a public vote by simply enacting the ban itself.

Because regardless of what local elected officials or local voters decide about a smoking ban for this summer one is definitely coming June 1, 2009, via a statewide smoking ban approved by state lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. Dave Heineman.

While both the local ban and statewide ban have similarities, they also have a few differences.

Here's how they stack up.

Where is smoking prohibited?

Both the state and local smoking bans prohibit smoking in an indoor area, a public place and places of employment.

Indoor areas must have a floor, ceiling and continuous walls on all sides.

A public place is an indoor area where the public is invited or permitted, even if the public isn't invited or permitted at certain times, City Attorney Dale Shotkoski said.

That means that private clubs or clubhouses with select membership are still subject to the smoking ban and non-smoking areas may not become smoking permitted areas after business hours.

The smoking ban is continuous all day, every day.

Places of employment must be smoke-free where employees work, but also includes breakrooms, restrooms, conference rooms, meeting rooms, classrooms, employee cafeterias and hallways, according to both state law and the local ordinance.

Licensed home daycares are considered a place of employment and therefore are subject to the ban.

Grand Island's prohibition also includes a 10-foot arc around every entrance or exit from a public place.

What is exempted?

Under both the state and local ban, up to 20 percent of motel rooms and suites may be permitted for smoking, but they must be on the same floor, contiguous and the smoke must not infiltrate into areas where smoking is prohibited.

Smoking research laboratories associated with colleges, universities and state and federal research facilities are exempt from the state ban, as are tobacco retail outlets.

Grand Island's ordinance allows an exemption for 20 percent of motel rooms and research facilities, but no exemption for tobacco stores.

Private residences are exempted except for those homes used "as a licensed child care program and one or more children who are not occupants of such residence are present."

How is the ban enforced?

The state ban is to be enforced by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services or a local public health official.

Grand Island's ban would be enforced by both the Central District Health Department and local law enforcement.

Central District Health Department Assistant Director Ryan King said locally the ban could be enforced on a complaint basis, during existing Clean Indoor Air Act checks, as part of health code inspections by department staff or through special inspections specifically looking for smoking ban compliance.

"We haven't worked through the details yet," King said.

If the local ban passes, he said the first conversations would be with the Grand Island Police Department to see how law enforcement wants to handle enforcement. The Health Department and Police Department would then work to have consistent enforcement, King said.

What are the penalties?

Under the state ban, a person who smokes in a prohibited area or a proprietor who allows smoking in a prohibited area is guilty of a Class V misdemeanor for the first offense and a Class IV misdemeanor for the second and subsequent offenses.

The state ban does allow a smoker to opt out of penalties by voluntarily participating in a state-approved smoking cessation class at his or her own expense.

Under the city ban, a person who smokes in a prohibited area or a proprietor who allows smoking in a prohibited area is deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall have a minimum fine of $100 for the first offense, $200 for the second offense and $500 for the third and subsequent offense.

Each day a violation continues constitutes a separate offense, under both the state and city bans.

What is smoking?

Smoking means the lighting of any cigarette, cigar, pipe, or other smoking material or the possession of any lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe or other smoking material.

How are prohibited areas to be marked?

The international no-smoking symbol of a pictorial representation of a burning cigarette enclosed in a red circle with a red bar across it to be "conspicuously posed or displayed" to that it is visible by employees and the public.

What do the bans take effect?

The state ban takes effect June 1, 2009.

The city ban, if approved by the council or voters, would take effect June 1, 2008.