Lawmakers backed by the American Lung Association and the American Cancer Society said yesterday they will push for passage of a smoking ban in restaurants and bars.

The ban will cover establishments open to the public, but not private clubs such as the American Legion, said the bill's prime sponsor, Sen. David Gottesman, D-Nashua.

He said the bill, Senate Bill 3, is not just about consumers, but about the health of restaurant and lounge workers. Exposed frequently to second-hand smoke, employees run a 50 percent greater chance of developing lung cancer than the average person, he said.

Gottesman said business owners, restaurant workers, and customers have asked him why the Legislature killed a smoking ban bill last year. A recent poll by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center found 79 percent support for the ban among the general public.

"I have restaurant owners who are begging me, because they do not feel strong enough to do this on their own," Gottesman said.

"This is not a referendum on our state motto, 'Live Free or Die.' It is an economic and health issue," he said.

If restaurant workers are healthier, their employers save money on insurance and other costs, he said.

"All the other New England states have gone smoke-free and New Hampshire should not be left behind," Gottesman said.

Last year, the House spent two months working on a similar bill, HB 1177. It passed the House 189-156, but the Senate killed it on a 12-11 vote after reviewing it for two weeks.

Sen. Robert Odell, R-Lempster, said he is co-sponsoring SB3 because, "one thing we can do to reduce cancer in this country is to reduce the use of tobacco." He noted that one-third of cancer cases are related to tobacco use.

Other lawmakers who have signed onto the bill include senators Martha Fuller Clark, D-Portsmouth, Harold Janeway, D-Webster, Molly Kelly, D-Keene and state representatives Cindy Rosenwald, D-Nashua, Cynthia Dokmo, R-Amherst and William Chase, D-Westemoreland.

Peter Ames, lobbyist for the state chapter of the American Cancer Society, said the state should increase its tobacco tax, which at 80 cents per pack is the lowest in the region. The tax "is an extraordinarily effective tool to convince children to avoid tobacco," he said.

Daniel Fortin, president and CEO of the American Lung Association in New Hampshire, said that medical spending on diseases related to smoking exceeds what the state collects in revenue from the tobacco tax.

"It simply makes no sense. We cannot be complacent any longer," he said.

ALA-NH this week gave the state an F for its tobacco use prevention efforts and a D on its cigarette tax policy.