At a city council meeting Tuesday, both the city of Weslaco and the city of Donna passed a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance which prohibits people from smoking inside any business.

The city council members had to unanimously approve the new regulation twice before it was officially passed.

Weslaco council members approved the ordinance on Dec. 6 for the first time.

In about four months, the ordinance will be taken into effect. Until then, city officials from Weslaco and Donna will advise businesses and residents that smoking indoors is now a violation. Those who fail to abide by the new regulation can face a fine of up to $2,000.

“We’ve been working on this since the summer and we finally did the second reading today and the whole commission, after a workshop we had today, we were able to pass the smoke free ordinance here,” said Weslaco Mayor David Suarez. He told CBS 4 News he is excited about providing a healthier living to residents.

Suarez said that the ordinance received a lot of support since the moment Weslaco began to campaign for it.

“Took us a while to get it done, but and I got a lot of texts from a lot of citizens, and neighboring cities that shop here in Weslaco and eat in Weslaco,” Suarez. Suarez mentioned that he has received more than 400 emails supporting the new law.

American Heart Association Local Policy Manager Jerry Saavedra said so far eight cities, including Weslaco and Donna, have passed it. Saaverda has helped push for cities across the Rio Grande Valley to accept the smoke-free ordinance.

He said there are a total of 60 cities in the state of Texas that have also become smoke-free.

“It’s really all about protecting the health of workers in indoor environments especially in the hospitality industry you know bar tenders, wait staff, it’s not really fair that when they go into work they have to breathe second hand smoke every second of their work shift,” said Saavedra.

The ordinance does not ban smoking for good. It simply states that a person wanting to smoke must be at least 20 feet away from a business and cannot smoke inside the facility.

Saavedra said that McAllen, San Juan, Alamo, Hidalgo, and Mercedes are the only cities in the valley that have not passed the smoke-free ordinance.