CONCORD, N.H. (AP)– The group that lobbies for New Hampshire’s hotels and restaurants says it’s dropping its fight against a proposed smoking ban in the businesses.

The New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association policy board voted Monday to tell its board not to oppose smoking bans. It says individual members are free to speak for or against the proposal when it comes up for hearings in the Legislature.

Association President Michelline Dufort said the group has seen a shift among members away from fighting the bans. The group has 700 members.

Current law allows smoking in restaurants with fewer than 50 seats, Dufort said. Larger restaurants have to install ventilation systems, dividing walls or come up with other ways of keeping smoking and non-smoking sections apart.

Dufort said similar bans in Vermont, Maine and Massachusetts reduce the risk that restaurants and lounges will lose business to competitors in other states.

Hampton Republican Sheila Francoeur is sponsoring the ban, saying she’s concerned about the health of employees who have to work in smoke-filled rooms.

“Tell me one other business where customers can walk in and blow smoke in the face of an employee. A waitress shouldn’t have to get up in the morning coughing and smelling like a tobacco factory,” she said.

Francoeur also said the deaths of her two brothers, both smokers, also played a role in her decision.

Opponents say businesses should be able to choose whether to allow smoking.