SPRINGFIELD - Two attempts to alter or repeal the state's indoor smoking ban were rejected Tuesday.

State Rep. Shane Cultra, R-Onarga, asked a House panel to repeal the smoking ban outright. He argued businesses are losing customers who want to smoke.

"What we've done is taken their ability to make a profit," Cultra said.

But his plan was rejected 11-3 by a House committee.

Efforts to repeal the act may have faced long odds from the beginning. The same committee of lawmakers who rejected Cultra's proposal approved the statewide smoking ban just last year.

Still, some lawmakers have continued to fight anti-smoking groups by asking for smoking ban exemptions for casinos and private clubs for veterans. So far, the anti-smoking advocates have fended off bids for exceptions.

"There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke," American Cancer Society spokesman Mike Grady told the House panel.

He was opposing a plan to allow certain businesses to get licenses to allow smoking, much in the way an establishment needs to get a liquor license to sell alcohol.

The smoking license plan was rejected by a 10-4 vote.