The smoking ban is just one piece of a comprehensive health care plan unveiled by Gov. Ed Rendell that covers everything from the delivery of health care to making health care affordable and accessible.

The spotlight in recent days is on a new Rendell proposal to underwrite health insurance coverage for 800,000 uninsured Pennsylvanians by tapping the surplus in a state fund that helps physicians pay malpractice insurance premiums.

That leaves the smoking ban languishing in the shadows.

The House and Senate approved separate smoking ban bills last summer, but they need to agree on a common bill version for anything to reach Rendell for signing.

This is done by having a six-member House-Senate conference committee hash out compromise provisions that can be put to a yes-or-no vote in each chamber.

At least two lawmakers of the six conferees will be from northeastern Pennsylvania: Senate Minority Leader Robert Mellow, D-Peckville, and Rep. Robert Belfanti, D-Northumberland.

Mellow was named as a conferee last week by President Pro Tempore Joseph Scarnati, R-Jefferson. He is joined by Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery, sponsor of smoking ban bills for the past decade, and Sen. Chuck McIlhinney, R-Bucks.

Mellow supports exemptions from the smoking ban for casinos and private clubs.

The three House conferees have yet to be formally named by Speaker Dennis O’Brien, R-Philadelphia, but Belfanti is widely expected to be one of them. Belfanti is one of the most vocal defenders of smokers’ rights in the Legislature.

The Senate-passed bill exempts private clubs, liquor licensees with food sales accounting for less than 20 percent of their business and 25 percent of casino floor space. The House-passed bill exempts private clubs that have been in existence for a decade, but provides no exemptions for restaurants, taverns and casinos.