HARRISBURG -- The state Senate has approved its version of a bill to ban smoking in most public places and workplaces, with some senators saying it's far too weak and others complaining it's an unnecessary intrusion on people's lives.

The bill was sent to the state House yesterday on a 33-17 vote, but the haggling is far from over.

The House will debate its own version of a smoking ban, probably today, and could send it to the Senate later this week.

A House-Senate conference committee may eventually be needed to hammer out a single version that can be voted on by both chambers, but whether that will happen before the summer recess starts Sunday is unknown.

Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, opposed the Senate bill, saying it didn't go nearly far enough to protect the public from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.

"We had our chance to do a progressive piece of legislation, which would protect public health and lower health care costs, but our chance went up in smoke," he said.

The measure, Senate Bill 246, would ban smoking in many workplaces and public places, including theaters, restaurants, museums, schools and school buses, arenas, auditoriums and retail stores.

It would allow exceptions for cigar bars, private clubs, 25 percent of a casino's gambling floor, patients' private rooms in nursing homes and residential treatment facilities, and smaller taverns where food sales make up no more than 20 percent of total revenue. Smoking would also be permitted in private homes, except for those used as day care centers for children or elderly people.

Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery, voted for the final version of the bill but agreed it was weakened by amendments offered by Sen. Charles McIlhinney, R-Bucks.

Mr. Greenleaf has been trying to get a smoking ban enacted for 10 years and decided that something was better than nothing. But he predicted the public will eventually demand a stronger bill than the current Senate version.

Sens. Jane Orie, R-McCandless, and Jake Corman, R-Centre, voted for the bill, even though they said it allows too many exceptions.

Sens. Don White, R-Indiana, and Mary Jo White, R-Venango, opposed the bill, saying it was an unnecessary effort by state government to tell people how to live.

"This bill is 'nanny government' at its most intrusive," Mrs. White said. "I don't support nanny government that tells people what is good for them."

Mr. White said, "Why don't we just go all the way and ban all smoking in Pennsylvania? We could make all smoking illegal. But state government is addicted to the revenue from the cigarette tax just as some smokers are addicted to nicotine."

Gov. Ed Rendell vowed yesterday to veto the Senate smoking ban because, as he read it, it would permit smoking in private homes used as day care centers for three or fewer children. Those facilities are considered unregulated day care centers, meaning they aren't registered with or inspected by the state. State inspections are done only for day care centers housing four or more children.

Mr. McIlhinney said the governor misunderstood the bill. He said it was never his intention to permit smoking at any homes used as day care centers, regardless of how many children are cared for, and he agreed to rewrite that portion of the bill if necessary to get the governor's support.

"No child should be exposed to secondhand smoke," Mr. Rendell said, and Mr. McIlhinney agreed.

Rep. Michael Gerber, D-Montgomery, said his version, House Bill 1541, is much stricter than the one the Senate passed. The Gerber bill allows exceptions only for cigar bars, tobacco shops, one quarter of the rooms in hotels and motels, and private homes as long as they aren't used for day care. It bans all smoking at casinos.

The governor also criticized the Senate bill for allowing smoking in smaller bars. He said that criterion needs to be "tightened," and he might veto the bill if it isn't.

The Senate-passed bill pre-empts any local smoking bans -- meaning cities and towns couldn't enact their own tougher bans. The Gerber bill allows municipalities to pass more restrictive bans.

Pittsburgh-area senators voting for the Senate bill yesterday were Ms. Orie; Wayne Fontana, D-Brookline; Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills; Richard Kasunic, D-Dunbar; Gerald LaValle, D-Rochester; Sean Logan, D-Monroeville; and Barry Stout, D-Bentleyville.

Voting against it were Mr. Ferlo; John Pippy, R-Moon; and Bob Regola, R-Hempfield.