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St. Paul (AP) ― From the corner bar to the country club lounge, smoking could be on its way out in Minnesota. A bill banning most indoor smoking in public places is halfway through the Legislature after a Senate vote Tuesday.

A bill described by its sponsor as "strong and unyielding" would outlaw smoking in bars, restaurants, VFWs, American Legions, bowling alleys and other workplaces starting Aug. 1. It passed on a 41-24 vote.

Opponents failed in their attempts to spare private clubs from the restrictions or extend them to Indian casinos, which are out of reach of most state laws. A push to leave bars out of the ban fell four votes short.

"What we're doing here is closing bars and restaurants that won't be able to handle this particular law," said Sen. David Tomassoni, one of eight Democrats to vote no. "We're going to be eliminating the very jobs that we're trying to protect."

Not so, said the bill's sponsor, DFL Sen. Kathy Sheran of Mankato: "The issue at hand here is the protection of the health of the public."

The "Freedom to Breathe Act" would toughen Minnesota's groundbreaking 1975 Clean Indoor Air Act by prohibiting smoking in virtually all enclosed public places, including taxis, transit terminals and even bus stop shelters. Violations would carry a maximum fine of $300.

Seventeen other states have passed smoking bans for most public places and workplaces, including bars and restaurants, according to the American Lung Association. Another four states have smoking bans with exemptions for bars.

Minnesota's smoking ban has marched steadily through the legislative process this year, touching off arguments over property rights, public health and tribal sovereignty.

However, the House version still faces at least two committee hearings if it is to come to the floor for a vote. The bill ran into unexpected difficulty in its last hearing, with a provision added to allow bars to have smoking rooms as long as employees don't enter them.

The House bill wouldn't take effect until Jan. 1, 2009.

Its sponsor, DFL Rep. Tom Huntley of Duluth, said he's pushing to get the bill to the floor as soon as possible so it doesn't get hung up on internal deadlines.

During the Senate debate, opponents worried that smokers would end up in casinos, the last places where they could legally light up. Republicans tried unsuccessfully to extend the ban to Indian lands, delay the ban until most tribes adopted it and bar state appropriations to tribes that didn't.

"How hypocritical to say it's about supporting workers but leave thousands of Minnesota workers out of the equation," said Sen. Betsy Wergin, R-Princeton, who said Grand Casino Mille Lacs is a major employer in her district.

Six Republicans voted for the smoking ban.

The bill wouldn't restrict smoking in private homes or vehicles, hotel or motel rooms, private nursing home rooms or smoking areas in locked psychiatric wards. Smoking wouldn't be illegal in scientific studies, American Indian ceremonies or tobacco shops.

Another foe argued that eliminating public places where smoking is allowed could end up putting more children at risk from secondhand smoke.

"Where do those people go to practice their habit if we say they can do it nowhere in public? They're going to do it at home," said Sen. David Hann, R-Eden Prairie.

The Senate legislation would allow bars, restaurants and bingo parlors to build outdoor patios for smokers -- but without food or drink service so workers aren't exposed to smoke.

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Secondhand smoke is a leading cause of preventable death in the United States. In 2005, it was estimated that, each year, exposure to secondhand smoke in the United States kills more than 3,000 adult nonsmokers from lung cancer and approximately 46,000 from coronary heart disease.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)