Sen. Joel Johnson of Kearney took the opt-out clause Tuesday.

He had done something dumb, he said, allowing a bill (LB395) that would have created a statewide smoking ban to get out of hand.

“The best of intentions were lost in a morass of execution,” he said.

So he delayed a final vote on the bill until January 2008 instead of passing one he no longer had his heart in, one that would have allowed communities and counties to take a pass and that would have resulted, in his view, in a patchwork of enforcement provisions and problems.

Between now and next session, he said, he hopes to convince more senators to support the statewide ban he envisioned, the one many European countries and U.S. states see as the best and cheapest way to improve their residents’ health.

The bill as it headed into final reading would ban smoking from indoor work sites, including bars and restaurants, but would allow cities, counties, villages and unincorporated areas to opt out with a vote of the local governing body or by a voter petition.

Sen. Mick Mines of Blair, who opposed the original bill and who had worked hard on the opt-out compromise, said the smoking ban bill as amended was not something dumb, not a morass impossible to execute or police.

The process had been a painful one for many senators, he said. They had worked through 29 amendments.

“I believe this bill is in good form,” he said, “and drafted properly.”

Senators, he said, want clean air and they want Nebraska residents to be able to go into restaurants and other workplaces and not be offended by smokers.

But some believe business owners have the right to choose and that local communities should be able to opt out of the ban. Those senators have been fair and have done the best they could to craft a bill that is right for Nebraska.

The proof of the good form of the bill is in an opinion delivered Tuesday from Attorney General Jon Bruning’s office, he said. The opinion said the AG’s office was aware of nothing that would keep a county board or residents of a county through petitions from placing a resolution before voters.

Voters in unincorporated areas of a county can, by referendum, repeal a resolution adopted by the county board, the opinion said. A county resolution has the same force of law as an ordinance or regulation and it can result in a less stringent regulation than state law.

Mines said lobbyists had played heavily in the statewide smoking ban, “beating senators over the head with the ills of smoking.”

“Shame on them,” he said.

They got 95 percent of what they wanted, he said. But that’s not all the bill is about. “Local individuals should make the choice to ban smoking,” he said.

Lobbyists from GASP of Nebraska responded in a press release, saying communities should not be allowed to pass local laws that are less protective than the state’s law.

“GASP believes there are enough senators who would support removing that (opt-out) provision, but because of Sen. Mines’ tactics, they will not be allowed to vote on it this year.”

Reach JoAnne Young at 473-7228 or jyoung@journalstar.com.