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RALEIGH — A trio of anti-smoking bills making their way through the legislature would ban smoking in state vehicles, keep smokers 25 feet from state government buildings and reinforce community colleges' authority to restrict smoking on campuses.

Should they pass as expected, the new laws would be the latest in a series that chip away at where smoking is allowed, particularly in and around government buildings.

Advocates and observers say these smaller prohibitions could be the foundation for broader anti-smoking measures in years to come.

In particular, advocates say, a ban on smoking in all workplaces — not just those owned by state or local governments — may be within reach after falling six votes shy of passing the House in 2007.

"That's the big one. It's coming back in January," said Rep. Hugh Holliman, a Lexington Democrat who has pushed broad smoking-related restrictions after his own experiences with smoking-related cancer. Time is running out on the current legislative session

"I can tell you I feel better about it in the coming year than ever before. I think we've had some change in opinion among (legislators)," Holliman said.

Pushing the smaller bills, he said, has allowed for more lobbying of the overall topic. At the same time, public attitudes have been moving more toward smoking restrictions, he said.

Another anti-smoking measure advocates want to pursue is an increase to the state's tobacco tax.

Gov. Mike Easley asked for a 20-cents-per-pack increase on cigarette taxes as part of his budget this year, but legislators rejected it almost as soon as it was proposed. Even health advocates were not enthusiastic about its prospects.

"We were not aware of that proposal when it first came out," said Pam Seamens of the North Carolina Alliance for Health.

North Carolina's cigarette tax is one of the five lowest in the nation at 35 cents. The alliance, Seamens said, supports raising the tax but only if it will discourage people from smoking. To do that, research shows North Carolina's tax would need to go up by at least 35 cents, she said.

"The alliance could not support anything lower than that, and our official position is that it ought to be raised to the national average of around $1.15 per pack," she said.

If health concerns don't press state government to make that change, she said, flagging tax revenues might. This year, state budget writers are struggling to put together a state spending plan that doesn't increase taxes. They may not have that luxury next year and taxes such as those on tobacco may be a natural place to look.

Still, the tobacco industry has deep roots in North Carolina, from farmers to tobacco companies that market it. And early tobacco-prevention efforts met with stiff resistance in the General Assembly.

Now, lobbyists for tobacco firms say, protecting their clients' interests has gotten trickier.

"Every year it gets a little more difficult," said Fred Bone, whose firm works for Greensboro-based Lorillard.

Tobacco firms have not argued against smoking restrictions in state-owned buildings. Bone said that's because most tobacco companies take the view the owners of a property, in this case the state, should be able to restrict smoking as they see fit.

That argument should extend to private workplaces, Bone said, where business owners should make such decisions.

But public health advocates say there is reason to push harder for smoking restrictions, even in private workplaces where government regulations already govern safety and other standards. They point to a 2006 U.S. Surgeon General's report that declared there was no safe level of secondhand cigarette smoke.

That moved the public policy debate away from smoking as a nuisance into the camp of a public health risk, said Jim Martin, director of policy and program's with the N.C. Tobacco Prevention Control Branch, an educational and research group in the Department of Health and Human Services.

Smoking rates have been dropping since the state began tightening tobacco control laws, he said, particularly among teens. Holliman's workplace smoking ban proposal would likely take the biggest bite out of secondhand smoke exposure, he said.

"That's an area that many other states have looked at and the evidence is very clear, especially as far as reducing people's exposure to secondhand smoke," he said.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com