Illinois Smokers:
A public yahoo group for anyone who wants to talk about the Illinois ban situation.

Illinois Smokers Alliance:
A smokers ban discussion group from IL.  A public group but moderated against posts made by anti-smokers.

Illinois State Page:
Facts, Press Releases, Visiting, Government, and more.

IDPH Online:
Illinois Department of Public Health
535 West Jefferson Street
Springfield, Illinois 62761

Tobacco Taxes Illinois's excise tax per pack of cigarettes: $0.980 Illinois's excise tax collection for the fiscal year ending June 2002: $471,551,000 Sales tax on tobacco products: 6.25% Local tax on tobacco products: $60,605,152 Federal excise tax per pack of cigarettes: $0.39 Total federal excise tax collections in fiscal year 2002: $7,512,700,000

Who Profits from Cigarette Sales? click for larger view

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Number of six-packs of beer that must be sold in Illinois to produce the same state excise tax revenue generated by one carton of cigarettes: 94.2

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Number of bottles of wine that must be sold in Illinois to produce the same state excise tax revenue generated by one carton of cigarettes: 67.8

 IL FY 2005

In 2004, the 22.1% of adults who comprise Illinois’s smoker population paid more than their fair share in taxes and tobacco settlement payments because they chose to buy a legal product:

State Excise Taxes	Local Excise Taxes	Sales Taxes	Tobacco Settlement Payments	Total Smoker Payments
$650,028,000	$184,818,000	$197,966,000	$293,400,000	$1,326,212,000

Illinois Smokers’ Economic/Tax Profile 2004:

Ø       Illinois smokers’ median household income  $36,157

Ø       Illinois nonsmokers’ median household income  $48,564

Ø       34.6% of Illinois smokers had household incomes LESS THAN $25,000

Ø       Only 14.7% of Illinois smokers had household incomes EQUAL TO or GREATER THAN $75,000

The impact of smoker payments on the incomes of working families was disproportionately greater – more than THREE TIMES higher – than the impact on the minority of smokers who have higher incomes. 

Tax and settlement payment liability paid only by smokers in FY2005:

Ø       Total average paid per Illinois smoker in excise and sales taxes   $509

Ø       Cost per Illinois smoker for settlement payments to Illinois   $145

Total annual payments to Illinois per smoker   $654

Payments by Illinois smokers in FY2005 were:

Ø       More than nine times larger than estimated liquor gallonage taxes of $145 million.

Ø       Larger than estimated corporate income tax collections ($1.07 billion).

Ø       Nearly as large as FY2004 motor fuels taxes of $1.42 billion).

Ø       Larger than Illinois’ estimated lottery collections for FY2005 ($991 million.

Ø       Larger than Illinois’ estimated FY2005 riverboat gaming taxes ($821 million).

Illinois smoker payments of OVER $1.3 BILLION were large enough to support FY2005 appropriations for:

Ø       The University of Illinois ($700.4 million)  AND  Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois, Western Illinois, Illinois State, Northeast Illinois, Governor’s State, Eastern Illinois, and Chicago State COMBINED ($606.5 million)

OR

Ø       Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority ($128.6 million)  AND  Illinois EPA ($335.8 million)  AND  Illinois Commerce Commission ($127.3 million)  AND  State Police ($349.5 million)  AND  Dept. of Public Health ($359.6 million)

OR

Ø       The Dept. of Commerce and Economic Opportunity ($847.6 million).

CIGARETTES DON'T PAY TAXES - ILLINOIS SMOKERS DO!!

 

Smokers Pay Excise Taxes2	$	653,697,000
Smokers Pay Local Excise Taxes	$	160,325,000
Smokers Pay Sales Taxes2	$	58,000,000
Smokers Pay Tobacco Settlement Payments3	$	339,495,000
	$	1,211,517,000

• Income1

Illinois smokers' median household income	$	36,720
Illinois nonsmokers' median household income	$	45,942

• Working families pay more1

34% of Illinois smokers had household income LESS THAN $25,000




16% of Illinois smokers had household income EQUAL TO or GREATER THAN $75,000




The impact of smoker payments on the incomes of working families was more than THREE TIMES the impact on higher income smokers. Those who can afford it least pay a disproportionate percentage of their hard-earned income in smoker payments.

• Smoker excise tax/sales tax/tobacco settlement payments liability in 20024

Total average paid per Illinois smoker in excise and sales taxes	$	415
Cost per Illinois smoker for settlement payments to Illinois	$	161
Total annual payments to Illinois per smoker	$	576
Total annual payments to Illinois per nonsmoker	$	0

TOTAL SMOKER CIGARETTE PAYMENTS TO ILLINOIS FY2003   Per year: $ 1,211,517,000 Per day: $ 3,316,953 Per hour: $ 138,206 Per minute: $ 2,303 Per second: $ 38

1 Centers for Disease Control's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2002
2 Orzechowski & Walker, Arlington, Virginia; from state revenue department
3 PriceWaterhouseCooper
4 U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 state population and Centers for Disease Control's Behavioral Risk Surveillance System, 2002
5 Tax comparisons are from the Illinois General Assembly Legislative Research Unit, Illinois Tax Handbook for Legislators (20th Ed., 2004). Online at http://www.rjrt.com/common/pages/LeavingRJRT.asp?URL=http://www.legis.state.il.us/commission/lru/lru_home.html. Budget comparisons are from the Illinois Office of Management and Budget, State Budget in Brief, Fiscal Year 2005. Online at http://www.rjrt.com/common/pages/LeavingRJRT.asp?URL=http://www.state.il.us/budget/

A summary of Illinois state law is provided below
(for specific questions regarding state law, contact your legal advisor.)

Minimum Age	Customers must be 18 years or older to purchase tobacco products.
Restricted Products	Tobacco products, including smokeless.
Acceptable Forms of Identification	A document issued by a federal, state, county, or municipal government, or subdivision or agency thereof, including, but not limited to, a motor vehicle operator's license, a registration certificate issued under the Federal Selective Service Act or an identification card issued to a member of the Armed Forces.
Fine/Penalty Schedule for Selling to Minors	Any person who violates this Section shall be guilty of a business offense punishable by a fine of not more than $50 for each violation. No person shall knowingly sell, barter, exchange, deliver, or give away a bidi cigarette to another person, nor shall a person cause or permit or procure a bidi cigarette to be sold, bartered, exchanged, delivered, or given away to another person. Violators will be guilty of a petty offense and subject to a fine of $100-$500 for a first offense: $250 - $500 for a second offense within 2 years; and $500 - $1,000 for all subsequent offenses within 2 years. The purchase of tobacco products on behalf of a minor is prohibited. Violators will be penalized $200 for the first offense, $400 for the second offense within a twelve-month period, and $600 for the third and subsequent offenses within a twelve-month period.
Affirmative Defense	None.
Minor Possession	The purchase of tobacco products by minors is prohibited. Violators will be penalized $200 for the first offense, $400 for the second offense within a twelve-month period, and $600 for the third and subsequent offenses during a twelve-month period.
Sign Requirement	Retailers must post a white sign in a conspicuous place that states in red letters at least 1/2 inch in height: SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: SMOKING BY PREGNANT WOMEN MAY RESULT IN FETAL INJURY, PREMATURE BIRTH AND LOW BIRTH WEIGHT. Failure to post sign will result in a penalty not to exceed $1,000 for each day not posted.
Compliance Checks	As a condition of receiving federal substance abuse block grant funds, federal law requires the State of Illinois to conduct random, unannounced inspections of tobacco outlets to determine compliance rates. The Liquor Control Commission coordinates the inspections.
DISCLAIMER: This information summary is provided as a service of the Coalition, but is not intended to provide legal advice or analysis. These summaries are not intended to be complete representations of state law, which may contain additional rules and restrictions relating to tobacco products not mentioned in this summary, as well as retailing prohibitions related to matters including, but not limited to, state required training, minimum pack size, the sale of loose cigarettes and other restrictions. Retailers should not rely on these summaries as complete or accurate descriptions of applicable federal, state or local law. Users with questions about the law should seek the advice of counsel. Each state law is unique and possibly represents multiple legislative or regulatory acts. Local laws may differ. Check with local authorities for variations from state law. These summaries are not intended to be complete representations of state law.

The reprinting of this information from the Coalition, does not constitute a representation or admission by RJRT that such information is accurate, complete, or a proper characterization of the laws concerned. The Coalition for Responsible Tobacco Retailing is a cooperative effort among retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers who share a common goal: to do all they can to prevent tobacco sales to minors.

Bill Status of SB2148  93rd General Assembly.

Short Description:  TOBACCO-MINORS-INTERNET

Synopsis As Introduced Amends the Sale of Tobacco to Minors Act. Prohibits the sale of tobacco over the Internet.

House Amendment No. 1

Permits a person to transport not more than 1,000 (rather than 200) cigarettes at any one time to any person in the State.

Read Full Version.

Another invasion of our civil rights in Illinois.

Children's Mental Health Act of 2003  (House Bill 2900, Public Act 093-0495)  An explanation of this act can be found  on the Department of Public Aid website or  from the endorsers of HB 2900. 
 
The Illinois' General Assembly passed this with a unanimous vote by the senate and a house majority of 107 to 5. The bill has already been signed by our governor.  You may reference the hyperlink.

The article below seems to give the best overview on what we may expect from the implementation of this Act.

IL launches compulsory mental health screening for children and pregnant women.

Ditka: Smoke won't hurt you

Secondhand smoke "might make your hair smell," but it's not a proven health risk, Bears-coach-turned-restaurant-owner Mike Ditka said Thursday, leading the charge against a proposed restaurant smoking ban in Chicago.

With a cigar in one hand and a drink in the other, Ditka said his steelworker father was living proof that it's baloney for medical experts to claim that exposing a restaurant employee to an eight-hour shift's worth of secondhand smoke is the equivalent of smoking a half a pack of cigarettes.

"My dad smoked four packs of Luckies from the time he was 12 until the time he was 60. He lived to 80. He died of hardening of the arteries. He didn't die from what smoking caused. He worked in the steel mill where every morning, you woke up and there was half an inch of soot on the cars," Ditka said.

"People who have survived in industrial areas of our country late into their 80s and 90s have inhaled more smoke than all the smoking in the world can give you.

I find it hard to believe that people try to shove the secondhand smoke theory down your throat because I don't believe it. I don't believe it even hurts you. It might make your hair smell a little bit, but that's about it."

Ditka said he has nothing against Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th), the City Council's leading anti-smoking crusader. He simply believes the restaurant business would "suffer tremendously" if Burke and Health Committee Chairman Ed Smith (28th) persuaded their colleagues to ban smoking in restaurants and bars.

"These people who are popping off and throwing their weight around better open up their eyes and understand that you've got freedoms in America. If you don't want to come in this restaurant, don't come in. If you don't want to go where people smoke, don't go.

They run the City Council. Let the people down here run the restaurants," Da Coach said.

Reminded that smoking has been banned for years in California restaurants and bars, Ditka said: "That's fruits and nuts. That's what they are. A lot of liberals. . .. All the do- gooders in the world. The people in California who abolished smoking are the same people who want to legalize marijuana. Come on. Give me a break."

At a Health Committee meeting earlier this week, restaurant owners attempted to slow the anti-smoking steamroller. They warned that a Chicago-only restaurant smoking ban would send customers fleeing to the suburbs and prompt conventions to move elsewhere. They argued the ban would create an enforcement nightmare, with confrontations between tip-seeking servers and their customers.

Mayor Daley sympathized, called for more City Council hearings on the controversy and backed away from his earlier endorsement of a restaurant smoking ban.

On Thursday, restaurant employees held a news conference at Ditka's Restaurant, 100 E. Chestnut, to reiterate those arguments and pile on a few more.

"This city is rich in character--full of taverns, neighborhood joints, steakhouses and family restaurants. A smoking ban would completely expunge that character.

It would absolutely reduce this city to another generic, dime-a-dozen, two-bit town," said Glenn Garlisch, a waiter at the Chicago Chop House, 60 W. Ontario.

This is a message from Cal Skinner, the Libertarian Party candidate for Governor. 

Why would any cigarette smoker vote Republican or Democrat? 

Jim Ryan raised the price of your cigarettes by $1.50 a pack with his tobacco settlement suit and says he’s willing to raise the cigarette tax even more than the recent 69% increase that Jim Ryan’s Republican Springfield friends passed. 

Rod Blagojevich has spent over $300,000 on TV ads promising to raise your cigarette taxes even more than his Democratic Party friends hiked the cost of your cigarettes this year. 

Have you had enough of the way both the Democrats and the Republicans have kicked you around for the last fifteen years? 

Have you had enough of being forced to pay 69% higher taxes to pay for the pork the Springfield power party politicans keep dishing out. 

We need to tell Jim Ryan and Rod Bagojevich that that smoking is not a sin. Stealing from cigarette smokers is a sin. 

Cal Skinner was the one telling media throughout Illinois that there was no need for a cigarette tax hike. General Fund revenues were only down 2%. If you were earning $24,000 and knew you were going to have $500 less in take-home pay, could you cope? Everyone I’ve talked to could. Why couldn’t the Springfield politicians? Because they’re spendoholics. 

“I’m smokin’ mad and this year I’m voting Libertarian for Cal Skinner for Governor.” 

Vote Libertarian for a CHANGE. Vote Libertarian for a REAL CHANGE. 

Call 1-866-SHAKE-UP 

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