3:45 p.m. - A committee of lawmakers decided Thursday that the full Legislature should vote on a statewide smoking ban in public buildings and workplaces, except bars, clubs and hotel rooms.

The ban would extend to restaurants, malls and commons areas of places such as hotels.

The interim Criminal Justice Committee approved a bill draft that will be presented to the state Legislature when it convenes in January. The bill is nearly identical to a smoking ban that failed in the state House last year.

The committee began looking at a ban after Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem concluded in April that the state labor commissioner has the authority to ban smoking in the workplace, based on a 1919 law making it a crime for employers to have working conditions that are detrimental to the health of employees.

Then-Labor Commissioner Mark Bachmeier said the Legislature should address the issue before the department proposed any new rules. The new labor commissioner, Leann Bertsch, told the committee Thursday that the 1919 law is so vague that it would be open to challenge, so her office will wait and see what lawmakers do.

The chairwoman of the committee, Rep. Lois Delmore, D-Grand Forks, said while state lawmakers overwhelmingly rejected a similar smoking ban last year, the political winds are changing as more and more North Dakota cities enact their own bans. She said the bill passed out of the committee is just a vehicle to debate the issue.

"I think there is an outcry in the state against second-hand smoke and I think the Legislature should respond to that," said Sen. Jack Traynor, R-Devils Lake.

The bill would allow cities to pass their own ordinances, as long as they're no less restrictive than the state ban. Violations of the ban would bring a fine of up to $100 for the first offense, and up to $500 for subsequent offenses.

Anti-smoking advocates said the bill doesn't go far enough to protect all workers, including people who work in bars. The committee rejected a proposal by the American Cancer Society that would have banned smoking in all workplaces.

Rep. Ron Carlisle, R-Bismarck, said even the less restrictive bill would likely have a tough ride in the Legislature.

(Reach Deena Winter at 250-8251 or deena.winter@bismarcktribune.com.)