A smoking ban has been rejected by South Bend‘s Common Council.
The bill would have gone a step further than the state‘s ban by prohibiting smoking in bars and private clubs. The vote was 5 to 4.
Councilwoman Valerie Schey asked to be withdrawn as a sponsor of the bill after meeting with local bar owners who claim they would be economically impacted by a smoking ban – a claim many studies have shown to be mostly false.
There are more than 30 localities in Indiana, including the city of West Lafayette, which have some sort of smoking ban in place.
