State Alert
Go to these URL links to see how your Illinois Assembly representative and senator voted on SB2400. One sponsor is from Lake County, one from DuPage, one from Will County and the rest are from Chicago. Same story as the proposed state ban. It seems only Chicago and the collar communities are interested in bans. House: Read89 YEAS, 24 NAYS Senate: Read45 YEAS 10 NAYS Short Description: SMOKING-LOCAL REGULATION
Senate Sponsors
Sen. John J. Cullerton (Chicago) - Dan Cronin (Lombard, DuPage County) - Edward D. Maloney (Chicago) - Mattie Hunter (Chicago)
House Sponsors
Rep. Karen A. Yarbrough Broadview, Cook County) - Jack McGuire (Joliet, Will County) - Cynthia Soto (Chicago) - Annazette Collins (Chicago)
- John A. Fritchey (Chicago) and Eddie Washington (Waukegan, Lake County)
Expanded public smoking ban goes to governor
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. The Illinois Legislature today sent to the governor a measure allowing counties to ban smoking in public places.
The House approved 89-to-24 a measure that gives county officials the power to prohibit lighting up in restaurants, bars and other public gathering spots. The Senate approved the measure last month.
Cities got the power to snuff out public puffing last year. The new measure covers areas in unincorporated areas--so cities still have the final say within their borders.
Municipal leaders to back statewide smoking ban bill
Feb. 16, 2006
BY PATRICK CORCORAN
STAFF WRITER
The Northwest Municipal Conference is backing a bill set to go before the state House that would make nearly all Illinois workplaces, restaurants and bars go smoke-free.
The civic group -- which includes mayors and other village officials from 50 municipalities in the north and northwest suburbs -- formally endorsed the proposal at its monthly meeting last week in Prospect Heights.
The vote mirrors a NWMC survey indicating near unanimous support for a statewide ban. However, the survey showed local leaders are less enthusiastic about a regional or local smoking ban.
Buffalo Grove Village President Elliott Hartstein said that's because a statewide ban levels the playing field for businesses and municipalities.
"It allows not having one town worry about whether or not restaurants or businesses will close up shop and move to the next town over," he said.
Schaumburg Village President Al Larson, who opposes a local ban in his community, said a survey of Schaumburg restaurant owners showed mixed results.
"From what we have seen so far, the ones who oppose the ban are the larger restaurants in our community like Maggiano's or Morton's. The smaller ones seem to be more agreeable," Larson said.
Only Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins and Northbrook Village President Eugene Marks voted against endorsement.
Mullins said her village will soon seek input from local restaurants regarding the ban.
Marks said the statewide ban prevents elected officials from deciding their own community smoking policy.
An Illinois House Health Care Availability committee approved the bill 6-4 on Feb. 7, advancing it to the full House for consideration.
Non-Home Rule communities were granted the legal right to decide for themselves how to resolve the smoking issue after a law went into effect Jan. 1. That law would be superseded by the new measure should it win approval from the House, Senate and Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
The bill -- HB4338 -- would phase in over two years a wide-ranging ban of all smoking in most indoor public places, including bars, restaurants, bowling alleys and casinos. It would also ban smoking within 15 feet of the entrances of those places. The bill's lead sponsor is state Rep. Annazette Collins, D-10th.
Mark Fowler, executive director of the conference, said Illinois is likely next in line to follow the smoke-free trend that has already snuffed out smoking in restaurants and bars in California and New York. Chicago enacted a smoking ban this year.
"With 17 states having already passed a ban, I think, in Illinois, that's the direction this issue is going," Fowler said.
The Illinois Assembly has a total of 59 Senators and 108 representatives. I hope the majority of our elected state representatives believe in pro-choice.
Here is a little more about the proponents of the Illinois state-wide smoking ban bill introduced in the Springfield Assembly yesterday.
* Of the nine bill sponsors, seven are from Cook County and two are from Lake County (Highland Park and Vernon Hills).
* There are eight Democrats and one Republic responsible.
* Once again, Chicago and the surrounding suburbs are responsible. No representatives from the rest of the state are sponsoring this bill.
Bill Status of HB4338 94th General Assembly
Read
Illinois may take back smoking decision
By Kevin McDermott
POST-DISPATCH SPRINGFIELD BUREAU
02/07/2006
Illinois legislators re-lit on Tuesday the debate over public smoking, advancing a measure to ban cigarettes in Illinois restaurants and other public places - barely a month after granting local communities the power to decide the issue for themselves.
"It's our responsibility to protect the whole state. . . . We cannot ignore the fact that lives continue to be lost due to secondhand smoke," said state Rep. Annazette Collins, D-Chicago.
Collins' statewide smoking-ban bill won a House committee vote Tuesday night, even as communities around Illinois ponder whether to take advantage of the new state law giving local governments authority to institute their own bans.
That law, which went into effect Jan. 1, would be superseded by the new measure, if it wins approval from the House, Senate and Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
The bill would phase in, over two years, a mandatory, near-total ban of all smoking in restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, casino riverboats and all other indoor public places. The smoking ban also would apply to a 15-foot radius outside the entrances of such places.
The new smoking-ban push Tuesday immediately tipped the fragile truce that smoking and anti-smoking forces reached last year, with the passage of the law that put the issue in the hands of local communities.
"You folks have placed your faith in local government officials, and you're not giving it time to work," Steve Riedel, executive director of the Illinois Licensed Beverage Association, told the House Health Care Availability and Access committee Tuesday.
Since the earlier law went into effect allowing local bans, Chicago and Springfield have enacted such ordinances. Several other communities have considered and rejected them, and others are still under debate.
The new local power has been almost completely ignored in Southern Illinois and the Metro East area.
"Downstate Illinois is against (mandatory) smoking bans. The rest of the state has very little interest in instituting smoking bans," said Garnet Dawn, Midwest director for the Smokers Club Inc., a national smokers' rights group.
She said the fact that so few Illinois communities had used their new smoking-ban powers was the best indication available that a mandatory statewide ban would go against the wishes of most Illinoisans. State legislators "are ignoring what the communities want," she said.
Anti-smoking advocates say it's a public health issue, and as such shouldn't be left to the whims of local politics to decide which restaurant employees and patrons are protected and which aren't.
By some estimates, second-hand smoke kills 50,000 Americans a year. Tuesday's committee hearing included emotional testimony about lung-cancer patients who never smoked but apparently developed the disease from their workplaces.
"Too many non-smokers are forced to cope," said Dr. Craig Backs, president of the Illinois State Medical Society, who appeared at a news conference supporting the new legislation. "Unless we make Illinois completely smoke-free, a large number of Illinoisans remain at risk."
But others say the debate has strayed from just health issues into debates over local autonomy and personal choice.
The view appeared to be supported by the scene Tuesday at the Stagger Inn in downtown Edwardsville, where a table of four men - all non-smokers - put up with the smoke smell of the place to keep their weekly lunch gathering. All agreed they would not support a statewide ban, saying individual businesses should decide whether to allow smoking.
"I think a lot of people wouldn't like it," said Patty Hughes, a non-smoker who manages the bar and restaurant.
For communities such as Collinsville, which hasn't yet debated a local ban, a statewide ban would have the potentially convenient effect of taking local politicians off the hot seat.
"Someone else making the decision is always good," joked Mayor Stan Schaeffer.
But Schaeffer said area residents - even non-smokers such as himself -would probably have philosophical problems with it. "I would think they would believe the decision shouldn't be taken away from the local community," he said.
Other opponents include the casino riverboat industry, which estimates that it could lose 20 percent of its business if boats such as the Casino Queen of East St. Louis had to go smokeless, and lost customers to Missouri boats.
The bill passed the committee 6-4 with one voting present, and now goes to the full House.
The bill is HB4338.
Leah Thorsen of the Post-Dispatch staff contributed to this story. Read
Lawmaker Wants State To Go Smoke-Free
Feb 7, 2006
(CBS) SPRINGFIELD, Ill. A state lawmaker from Chicago is hoping to expand a smoking ban in public places statewide.
The bill introduced by Rep. Annazette Collins (D-Chicago) would prohibit smoking in all public places, including bars, taverns and bowling alleys. In addition, no person would be allowed to smoke within 15 feet of any entrance to a public place.
Under the proposal, restaurant and bar owners have two years to comply.
The Health Care Availability and Access Committee will hold a hearing on the bill Tuesday afternoon.
“Our priority is to protect the health of all Illinois employees, especially those who work at restaurants and bars where smoking is prevalent,” said Dr. Ermilo Barrera, president of the American Cancer Society of Illinois. “No one should have to compromise his or her health to earn a living.”
Opponents argue smoke-free legislation would have a negative impact on restaurant and bar revenues.
Last month, Chicago instituted a similar smoking ban for all public places.
Read----------------------------------
House Committee OKs Statewide Smoking Ban
Smoking Could Be Banned In All Public Places
Feb 7, 2006
(AP) SPRINGFIELD, Ill. Smokers, beware.
Illinois lawmakers are considering a statewide ban on smoking in public places, like restaurants, bars and bowling alleys.
Health advocates say smokers shouldn't inflict their smoke on employees and other customers.
One expert says a waitress who breathes second-hand smoke for eight hours has essentially smoked a pack of cigarettes.
But business groups oppose a ban. They say customers can vote with their feet and choose whether to go to places that allow smoking.
They also note that it was just a few months ago that lawmakers let individual cities decide whether to ban smoking. They say that process should be given more time.
A House health care committee approved the bill six-to-four, sending it to the full House.
Blase: State should same smoking rules on all towns
October 27, 2005
BY JENNIFER JOHNSON
STAFF WRITER
If the city of Chicago votes to ban smoking in public places, including bars and restaurants, Niles Mayor Nicholas Blase predicts the action will "put pressure on many of the suburbs to start thinking about the same thing."
But Blase doesn't believe it should be up to individual communities to pass such restrictions.
"I think it's incumbent upon the state of Illinois, if they want to do something, to pass a no smoking ordinance and involve all [communities]," Blase said.
Leaving the decision to ban smoking in public places up to the communities themselves could hurt businesses if some towns have the ban and others in the area do not, Blase said.
"I'm not a cigarette smoker, but at the same time I don't want to hurt our local businesses unless we all [having a smoking ban]," Blase said.
Whether the state will actually move toward a state-wide smoking ban is still unknown, he added.
Blase made these comments during his annual Mayoral Address last week before members of the Niles Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
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