Indiana lawmakers who are worried about whether third-graders can read should take a look at their own report card: Their stubborn resistance to common-sense tobacco restrictions earns an “F,” among the worst in the nation.

The report card, from the American Lung Association, suggests the General Assembly first should make sure that children can breathe. With no statewide workplace smoking provisions, no ban on restaurant smoking and shrinking support for tobacco prevention and control, Indiana measures poorly against other states. The failing marks show the dismal progress legislators have made in adopting a statewide smoking ban.

House Bill 1131, a watered-down version of Rep. Charlie Brown’s original measure, passed the House by a 73-26 vote this month, but Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, declared it dead on arrival in the Senate.

“I just don’t think we’re there yet,” he told reporters.

But the report card shows Indiana is falling even further behind when it comes to smoke-free air. Twenty-six states and the District of Columbia have comprehensive smoke-free workplace laws to protect the public and workers from toxic secondhand smoke.

In Ohio, legislators last year introduced a bill to weaken the state’s strong workplace smoking ban, but their efforts were defeated. The ban grew even stronger when the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction implemented a tobacco-free policy for state prisons, which applies to all prisoners and staff.

In addition, Ohio increased its wholesale and retail cigarette license application fees. Wholesale cigarette license application fees went from $200 to $1,000, and retail fees went from $30 to $125, with the majority of revenue going to cigarette-tax law enforcement in an effort to reduce tobacco smuggling and illegal sales of untaxed cigarettes, both of which encourage smoking.

Illinois also earned an “A.” The state just marked the two-year anniversary of the Smoke Free Illinois Act, one of the strongest smoke-free laws, requiring all workplaces, restaurants, bars, private clubs and casinos to be smoke-free. Michigan earned an “incomplete” on the report card, but only because its new statewide ban doesn’t go into effect until May 1.

Jessica Kelly of the American Lung Association in Indiana said Hoosier lawmakers continue to argue that businesses will be hurt by a comprehensive smoking ban. But Fort Wayne residents know that’s not the case. The recession has claimed too many restaurants in recent months, but the city’s strong smoking ban hasn’t been cited as a cause.

If money is truly the reason lawmakers won’t support smoke-free workplaces, they should look at the bottom line: $4.8 billion is Indiana’s estimated annual cost resulting from smoking, according to the Lung Association. That’s lots of money the state could use to help children learn to read.