DENVER -- The state Senate on Thursday approved a statewide ban on smoking in restaurants, overriding the objections of some Republicans who argued that no one is being forced to work in a smoky business.

The measure (Senate Bill 207) passed on a 21-12 vote and now moves to the House.

Sen. Dan Grossman, D-Denver, said many restaurant workers are wrongly forced to choose between their health and their jobs because of secondhand smoke.

"They can try to find work in another industry, or maybe they can't," Grossman said.

Grossman said at least 13 local governments already ban smoking in public places, and restaurants statewide should be competing under the same rules so everyone would be on a "level the playing field." Restaurant owners in non-smoking communities have complained that smokers are taking their business to nearby cities where there isn't a smoking ban.

Senate Minority Leader Mark Hillman, R-Burlington, opposed the bill, saying workers are free to leave jobs in smoke-filled workplaces, and employers are free to ban smoking on their own. The Senate bill exempts casinos and bars from the ban.

Grossman's original measure would have banned smoking in public meetings, elevators, mass transit, grocery stores, bars, casinos and three-fourths of the hotel rooms in the state.

Several cities and counties across Colorado have already enacted smoking bans, but a statewide ban would supersede all of them.

Fort Collins, Greeley, Pueblo, Alamosa, Arvada, Aspen, Boulder, Longmont, Louisville, Montrose, Snowmass, Superior, Telluride and unincorporated Boulder County already have similar bans. Some groups have been trying to ban smoking in Denver for years.

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Colorado General Assembly
Sen. Dan Grossman
State Senate