Lawmakers in Nebraska are proposing legislation that would allow cities to opt out of statewide smoking bans either through a city-council vote or voter referendum, the Associated Press reported March 18.

Similar opt-out provisions are in place in parts of Illinois and Indiana, and smoking-ban legislation proposed in Kansas and Wyoming also gave cities the option to continue to allow indoor smoking.

Critics says the escape clauses are a bid by ban opponents to undermine the statewide laws. "There's not enough political will to kill a law, but they're trying to dilute it," said Bronson Frick of Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights. "It's designed to divert health group resources to constantly defending a state law."

The American Heart Association said it would not support a bill with an opt-out provision. Joe Johnson, who introduced the Nebraska bill, said that if the measure comes up for a vote with the opt-out clause -- added as an amendment -- still attached, "we would kill our own bill rather than pass a bad bill."