AUSTIN – The House all but stubbed out a statewide ban on smoking in public buildings Monday, passing severely weakened legislation that allows property owners to exempt themselves – even in cities with bans in place.

The changes render the legislation meaningless and threaten to unravel city bans, though it's unlikely those changes will survive a conference committee – if it gets that far.

The ban passed 91-48, after a two-day clash between anti-smoking activists and local-control and property-rights supporters. The fight finally ended in an 11th hour agreement by the bill's author to just get the bill passed, in any form, before a constitutional deadline kills it later this week.

"I don't want any more cheese, I just want out of the trap," said Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, the author of the bill. "We're going to fight and fight to get it back where it was. It's a work in progress."

By the time the legislation left the House floor, she had let on so many amendments that it looked almost nothing like the legislation she had filed. It now faces a difficult fight in the Senate.

And it also means almost nothing, since small towns can opt out entirely; large cities can opt out with an election; and property owners can exempt their own buildings.

That includes offices, bars, restaurants and sports arenas, all the places that were banned in the original bill – even if their own cities have already passed smoking bans – under some interpretations of the convoluted legislation.

An identical bill by Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, has been sitting in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee since February.

Proponents said the bill leveled the uneven playing field for bars and restaurants that is being created by patchwork local-option smoking bans in cities across Texas. They argued it protects workers from being harmed by second-hand smoke.

Opponents said the ban destroys local control by cities whose ordinances would be superseded by the legislation – including the ban in Dallas that exempts bars – and flies in the face of property rights.

"I am tired of being criticized about the erosion of local control," said Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, who helped lead the fight against the bill. Cities "have elected officials that have already made those decisions for their local businesses. I don't think we [the state] ought to supersede that and shove it down their throats."