FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) -- Smoking and chewing tobacco in public places on the Navajo Nation remains legal after tribal lawmakers failed Thursday to override a veto of a bill that would have banned it.

The veto override needed 59 yes votes to pass, but only 41 delegates voted in favor of it during a special session held in the tribal capital of Window Rock.

Thomas Walker Jr., the bill's sponsor and a member of the council's Health and Social Services Committee, acknowledged that the use of tobacco is not a huge problem on the reservation. But he said the intent was to discourage young people from smoking, help others quit and protect people from secondhand smoke.

"The problem is not blatantly obvious, but 10-20 years from now the smokers of today, which are the kids, would be heavily addicted and their children will be following," he said. "So I think this law and similar laws would have great impact. It's beneficial to Navajo people."

Walker vowed to continue to push a similar measure, after considering the concerns other tribal lawmakers and President Joe Shirley Jr. had expressed about the proposed law.

"We'll carefully look at each matter, each question and each concern," he said.

The council also failed to override vetoes on the purchase of a hotel in Gallup, N.M., and a measure that would have reduced the tribe's Board of Education from 11 to seven members and stripped it of most of its authority.

Delegates delayed a vote on whether to seek the transfer of Canyon de Chelly National Monument from the federal government to the tribe until public hearings could be held, said council spokesman Joshua Lavar Butler.

Shirley has said he would work with Walker and backers of the tobacco ban to develop a law that addresses underage smoking and would not result in lost revenue for the tribe's first casino scheduled to open this year near Gallup, N.M.

The tribe's Division of Health would have overseen the law. A hot line would have been set up to lodge complaints, and an enforcement officer with the division would investigate.

Shirley urged delegates to vote no on the override, saying the law would not have ensured that due process is provided to those caught illegally smoking. Without an administrative appeal process, all cases would go before the Navajo courts, which Shirley said already are overburdened.

Ceremonial tobacco use would not have applied under the law.

Walker said he would look into whether an exception could be made for tobacco use at casinos but so far wasn't convinced that a tobacco ban would cause casino revenues to fall.

"If it is going to jeopardize the profit-making of the casino, that has to be considered," he said. "There's waivers, there's exceptions. If we deem that this could be that, then certainly that's a reasonable thing to do."

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