INDIANAPOLIS -- City-county council members will again consider a ban on smoking in public places -- including restaurants and bars -- and enclosed workplaces in Marion County.

Council President Steve Talley said the proposal will be introduced on Monday. A similar proposal was killed in a council committee in November 2003.

The new proposal, which was shown to the news media Friday, defines a public place as an "enclosed area, whether owned publicly or privately, to which the public is invited or in which the public is permitted."

"This is an important health issue that must be addressed," said Angela Mansfield, one of the council members behind the proposal. "This ordinance is about protecting the workforce and the public from the dangers of secondhand smoke."

The proposal cited elevators, health care facilities, sports arenas, shopping malls, public transportation facilities and enclosed common areas of multiple-unit residential facilities as examples of places where smoking would be banned.

The ban would extend outdoors at places where people use or wait for a service, including automated teller machines, telephones, ticket lines, bus stops, and cab stands.

Private residences and hotel rooms designated as smoking rooms are among the places that would be exempted.

The plan would go to a committee in a few weeks, and public hearings will be held, RTV6's Julie Pursley said.