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Illinois Poised To Become A Smoke-Free State

Legislation Passed By State House And Senate, Now Goes To Governor's Desk

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) ― 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.

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