INDIANAPOLIS | A statewide indoor smoking ban approved last week by the Indiana House was temporarily snuffed out Tuesday by the state Senate.

Senate President David Long, R-Fort Wayne, ruled the smoking ban should not have been added to Senate Bill 175 because it was not germane to the underlying legislation, as required by the Indiana Constitution. Senate Bill 175 makes changes to state health reporting requirements.

State Sen. Patricia Miller, R-Indianapolis, removed the smoking ban from the measure during a House-Senate conference committee.

"We can't keep it in this bill," Miller said.

But state Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, sponsor of the smoking ban, said he won't be deterred.

Brown said he plans to add the smoking ban to House Bill 1132, which he controls, during a different conference committee meeting today.

"It is beyond the pale how we get into this situation all the time with bills that will be good public policy for a majority of the citizens of Indiana," Brown said. "His (Long's) answer is always next year."

"Why couldn't we do it this year, as opposed to next year? We could probably save a lot of lives," Brown said.

The House voted 54-44 on Feb. 25 to approve a statewide smoking ban that included all indoor spaces except gaming facilities. The Senate failed to act several times in the past two years on smoking ban proposals with varying exemptions sent over by the House

If Brown succeeds in adding the smoking ban to HB 1132 in conference committee, it still would need approval from both chambers of the General Assembly before it can go to the governor.