Supporters of a smoking ban on the 132-acre North Dakota Capitol grounds say it will help safeguard the health of employees and visitors and prevent some building entrances from resembling a pool hall.

Others argued Thursday that the sweeping prohibition, which includes the governor's residence and the Capitol's parking lots, walking trails and mall, goes too far.

"I don't think I'd like to be busted on the way to my car, when I leave work, lighting up a cigarette to go home," said Lee Lundberg, a training officer and mediator in the state Office of Management and Budget's human resources division.

The House's Government and Veterans Affairs Committee held a hearing Thursday on the proposed ban, which is sponsored by Rep. Joyce Kingsbury, R-Grafton.

Former Gov. George Sinner banned smoking in most of the Capitol building in a 1990 executive order, but it did not apply outside the doors. In 2005, the Legislature approved a smoking ban in most public buildings. This year, lawmakers will debate whether to extend the prohibition to bars.

Susan Mormann, who works in the state Department of Health's chronic disease division, said a group of smokers often gather at the east entrance to the Capitol's judicial wing, which is the closest entrance to her workplace.

Mormann said she is sensitive to cigarette smoke, and although she adjusts her arrival times and uses other building entrances, the smoke smell can trigger an asthma attack.

"I often hold my breath as I walk through the tobacco smoke," she said. "I can wear a face mask, and I've used alternative entrances and exits."

When she taught elementary school and special education in Mandan, she did not have to worry about smoke at the workplace, and she took 10 days of sick leave in 12 years, Mormann said.

In six years at the Health Department, she has used 68 of her 72 sick days, had two or three respiratory infections annually and four cases of pneumonia, she said. She has had to begin taking two new medications daily.

"If, for some reason, our Capitol water supply is contaminated with arsenic, every effort would be made to quickly and safely clean up the water supply," Mormann said. "I see exposure to tobacco smoke in the same light."

Committee legislators wondered whether a law was necessary, and whether Kingsbury's proposal was too drastic. Most workers in the Capitol tower would have to walk at least 200 yards to get off the grounds, and they are bordered by busy streets.

Rep. Randy Boehning, R-Fargo, said the measure would ban smoking in the governor's private residence, which is on the southwest corner of the Capitol grounds.

"If we elect a governor that smokes, he's going to have to walk across the street to smoke?" Boehning asked.

Gov. John Hoeven and his family do not smoke. Spokesman Don Larson said Thursday the governor did not recall being approached to order a smoking ban on the Capitol grounds, and Kingsbury said she did not request one.

In October 2005, the state Office of Management and Budget, which Hoeven controls, banned smoking on the Capitol's south entrance and steps, which face the mall.

Nicki Weissman, director of the North Dakota Hospitality Association, and Rick LaFleur, of Devils Lake, spoke against the proposed ban. Weissman said the measure is inconsiderate of smokers who come to the Capitol for business.

"What public property is next?" she said. "The bill is an overreaction to the false assertion that a blue cloud hangs over the Capitol building."

LaFleur called smokers "victims."

"They're a victim of nicotine that is addictive. They're a victim of a society that has sold tobacco," he said. "Many of those people who stand outside today to smoke would rather not … We've got to make sure that we're not out on a witch hunt for smokers."