Posted on 05/03/2007 9:52:05 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
Legislation Passed By State House And Senate, Now Goes To Governor's Desk
(CBS) SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Get ready to snuff out those cigarettes. Illinois lawmakers have voted to ban smoking in bars, restaurants and other public workplaces. Illinois is one signature away from becoming a smoke-free state, and the governor already says he is ready to sign a statewide ban into law.
The legislation passed the House 73-42 Tuesday and now goes to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who supports the ban "enthusiastically." If he signs the measure, the smoking restrictions would take effect Jan. 1 and make Illinois the 19th state the country to impose such a ban.
As CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports, the margin of approval kills the possibility for a veto.
The statewide ban is meant to replace a patchwork of local laws. As CBS 2’s Mike Parker reports, Chicago bars were expecting a municipal smoking ban to take effect soon, but for suburban bars and restaurants, like Merrionette Park's 115 Bourbon Street, long operating under local ordinances that have allowed smoking, there was no such threat until now.
Critics complain that the current arrangement hurts business in cities with smoking bans, because smokers visit neighboring towns without such bans when they want to go out for dinner or a drink.
Smoking opponents portrayed the measure as a matter of public safety, little different from requiring restaurants to follow fire codes. Customers and the staff who serve them should not be exposed to dangerous smoke, they argued.
Experts say second-hand smoke kills about 2,900 people in Illinois every year.
"There's no doubt the actions of smokers are harming non-smokers," said the sponsor, Rep. Karen Yarbrough, D-Chicago.
Opponents argued the state is overstepping its authority by telling every Illinois business how it must operate.
Customers should be allowed to vote with their dollars and stay away from businesses that permit smoking if that's what they want to do, critics say. If smoking must be regulated, it should be done by individual cities.
"That's local control. That's the way government works best," said Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro.
"People go into bars, they expect smoke, they expect people smoking,” said smoker Jeff Hooker.
"They're nervous, they're watching the game, they want to smoke,” said bar owner Nick DiNovo.
The new law would ban smoking in every public place, every place of employment, every college dormitory, and even in for-profit private clubs like cigar bars, as well as within 15 feet of entrances to public facilities.
Police officers who smoke won't be able to do it in their squad cars – all government vehicles are off limits. And smoking will be banned in every riverboat casino in the state. The new law will also put an end to smoking exotic tobaccos in water pipes in the trendy new hookah bars and cafes unless 80 percent of their gross revenue is from selling tobacco.
"The lion's share of our sales come from the sale of tobacco and the smoking of pipes on the premises,” said Mark Heinze of Sigara Café and Lounge. “I would anticipate maybe no change."
The bill passed the state Senate last month and passed out of the House Environmental Health Committee last week.
If signed by Blagojevich, the ban would take effect Jan. 1, 2008. That would supersede a law currently in place in Chicago that would give bars and nightclubs until July 1, 2008, to implement a smoking ban.
The City of Chicago has banned smoking in all other indoor public places, and many other municipalities in Illinois have also instituted smoking bans.
The reality is that non-smokers now vastly outnumber smokers, with political clout to match. But while the tide of public opinion has turned strongly against smoking, the issue remains hotly debated.
Gov. Blagojevich said he expects to sign the bill into law. Blagojevich said in Chicago on Tuesday that he still needs to see the bill, but that it sounds to him like something he would "enthusiastically" sign.
Blagojevich made his comments at a rare news conference called to highlight the endorsement by the American Association of Retired Persons of the governor's proposal to provide state subsidies for health insurance.
The motivation for the bill is to protect people from secondhand smoke in the workplace, advocates say.
Working eight hours in a smoky bar or restaurant is the equivalent of smoking 16 cigarettes, the American Cancer Society says. It estimates secondhand smoke contributes to the deaths of 2,900 Illinoisans a year -- about eight a day.
When the bill passed the state Senate, opponents said decisions about smoking bans should be left to city and county officials. Forty-four Illinois communities have approved restrictions on smoking in public places, according to the Cancer Society.
"They're the ones who are best equipped in order to make this decision," said Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon.
But some business owners object to letting each city make the decision. Bars and restaurants covered by bans are put at a disadvantage against their competitors just outside city limits, they argue.
An association representing bars and other businesses that serve alcohol argued that a smoking ban would be devastating to their bottom-line, especially for small businesses.
"What you're going to have left is a homogenous TGI Friday entertainment industry, because they're the ones with deep pockets. Mom-and-pop places, there's no way they can withstand this," said Steve Riedl, executive director of the Illinois Licensed Beverage Association.
Riedl said bars in Springfield and other cities with smoking bans have seen business drop sharply.
In the Senate version, people violating the ban could be fined $100 to $250. Businesses that allow violations could be fined $250 a day.
CBS 2's Mike Flannery, Mike Parker and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
And this same lady had no idea there was a “snitch line.” They’re only posted at EVERY PUBLIC PLACE IN OHIO. Oh, and another person told me the same thing today — that’s two people in one day. I don’t know if I should laugh or cry or both, so I guess I’ll LOL.
We go to Tunica MS and do the same thing.
Oaklawn, in Hot Springs has a Slot machine area and we go there a few days each month on a Sat night. I sit in the smoking section so my husband can enjoy himself.
sw
Isn’t it nice to be treated like an adult and be able to act like one in public? LOL. You enjoy your time at your places in MS and AR. :-)
"If once the people become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions.”
“A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.”
"Democracy guarantees that people will get the government that they deserve."
--Thomas Jefferson
Thanks for the ping!
Hey there, Alamo-Girl! Hope all is well with you. Nice seeing you again. :-)
Everything is fine with me, hope all is well with you, too!
No! No! It’s more like 2,900,000,000,000 people. Every five minutes! Instantly! The moment they even smell the stuff!
(Buttholes.)
We have some pretty good Republicans here. Bredesen wants to drastically raise cigarette taxes and the Repubs said we’ll go along only if you lower or drop the tax on food. Of course the dems don’t want to do that so they wind up looking stupid if they refuse.
Yesterday, there was lady standing at the security desk where I work. She was complaining and asking the guard to do something about the smokers OUTSIDE. Now, this is lady who got 100% — 100% of what she wanted with the Ohio Smoke Free Law and she’s still not happy.
You will be healthy for the health of the state!
This is the kind of stuff that goes on in Cuba or recently Vensuela.
"Good" Republicans often lead the charge in abridging individual and private property rights.
As it is for everything else that some people don't like.
Social engineering works well for the sheeple. Soon, our masters will be telling us what to eat, what to wear, where to work, how much money we can earn, etc,etc,etc.
You’re right. Americans and other previously free people in the Western World still don’t get it. This is the very definition of Socialism and Fascism. It’s all for the “greater good” for society collectively, so you must give up your individual rights for the benefit of the state.
Tennessee is a very conservative state. Our democrat congressman, Lincoln Davis, was the only dem to vote against the bill to withdraw troops. In the 2006 election, Tn was the only state to send a Repub, Bob Corker, to Washington. Of course Imus called us racsists because we choose Corker over Ford. The irony! LOL
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.