Smoking exemptions stalled for now
Thursday, Feb 14, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller
* As expected, the smoking ban exemption bills didn’t move yesterday in the House…
Several bills to broaden exemptions to the state’s indoor smoking ban were put on hold for at least a week. A House committee was scheduled to hear the bills Wednesday, but Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, asked the bill sponsors to hold them.
Rep. Randy Ramey Jr. said he was told the speaker wants to remove an exemption for riverboat casinos from a bill Ramey is sponsoring.
* Here are some more details of Ramey’s proposal…
[The bill] would allow smoking in bars, bowling alleys, veterans’ halls, strip clubs and casinos. In other words, restaurants would be one of the only mandated smoke-free facilities.
* Other bills were also heard by the committee…
A third bill, sponsored by state Rep. Mike Boland, D-East Moline, would allow veterans clubs, such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, to permit smoking on their premises again.
* There were some fireworks at the hearing…
Early on, Democrats used procedure to prevent a lawmaker from altering his plan allowing smoking in Veterans of Foreign Wars halls and American Legion posts.
The lawmaker, state Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville, slammed down his chair in the hearing room, berated a Democratic staff member in the hallway and later called the committee’s chairwoman “an idiot.”
* Black also complained about a lobbying push against the bills, which he termed “misinformation“…
“Their lobbying groups smack of something out of the 1930s!” Black shouted at members of the House Environmental Health Committee, in an apparent reference to old-fashioned misinformation campaigns. “I’ve received dozens of calls. … They’re telling people that this bill repeals (the smoking ban), and nothing is further from the truth, and they know it!”
Mike Grady, spokesman for the American Cancer Society, later acknowledged that the group had organized a phone campaign to pressure lawmakers to prevent any weakening of the new law, but he emphatically denied it was a misinformation campaign. […]
He alleged that Black’s proposed exemption wouldn’t merely allow smoking in VFW and American Legion halls, as has been suggested, but could be used to lift the ban in thousands of other quasi-public venues all over the state, which could lead to bars and restaurants demanding like treatment. Grady added, “The reason the law was made the way it was, was because it was uniform and equitable across the board. … Any effort to bust that wall down is only going to lead to more” attempted exemptions.
- Ghost - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 10:16 am:
The identified purpose of the ban was to protect employees and workers (and patrons) form being required to subject themselves to second hand smoke. So what magicl shield now protects workers in casinos, strip clubs, vfw halls etc. I guess we are saying that those employees are not trash and do not derseve the protection wwe want to afford elsewhere.
This is really about the States misguided dependancy on sin taxes. The State has made itself dependnet on casino revenue and cigarrette sales to fund its operations. That is the real problem. So the State has a conflict of interest, protect it citizens from second hand smoke, or generate revenue. We need to end the cycle of sin tax dependency. Its time to look at an income tax increase (or closing corp loopholes etc) but we need off this dependcy. Our legislature and the Gov should not be electing to reduce public health and safety in favor of quick cash.
- Squideshi - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 10:24 am:
So is Black a smoker himself, or does he get campaign contributions from big tobacco?
- Potterville, Here We Come... - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 10:29 am:
I agree Ghost, I too was ashamed of the litany of vices that Illinois depends on for cash AND that’s on top of the pay to play revenue stream (ie Altria, Bev. Assoc., etc).
- Amy - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 10:32 am:
Black is on tv a fair amount yelling, so he is probably goofy on this. Who is Mike Grady and is he
sneaky or is the group right that the proposal would expand exponentially?
I would not want the smoke to start up again.
- Gentlemen, behold! - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 10:54 am:
I think the point with the VFW hall exemption is that these veterans were given cigarettes as a part of their rations during the war by the US Government. Lo and behold, they got hooked. And now in their twilight years, we might want to consider giving them a place where they can smoke. It’s kind of a tough call because then you get a slippery slope with the exemptions.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 10:56 am:
So whats the point of banning indoor smoking? Because it makes your dining stinky?
The point of the ban is that cigarette smoke is recognized as a health hazard and needs to stop. Exemptions to this stand is counter to the purpose of the law.
Whether you are in a strip club, a bowling alley or a five-star restaurant, tobacco smoke is poison and should not be allowed.
No exemptions.
- Central Illinois Small Town Hick - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 11:03 am:
I wonder if anyone has considered making the exemption a licensing issue - something like a liquor license - except on a State not a local level? Access to the licenses would (could) be restricted to specific types of businesses and clubs only being able to apply. Then, as in the history of all sin taxes, the State could charge a fee (increase revenue) to permit smoking. Additionally, the State could limit the number of licenses available. Might be a compromise solution but then again, in the State’s current environment, not likely.
- gray wolf - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 11:20 am:
Perhaps a hunting season on smokers is in order-give the health extremists something to do for a special cause and they can buy tags just like deer-a red tag lets them shoot a cigar smoker-a blue tag for pipe smokers and a gold tag for a cigarette smoker–talking about paintgun [of course] with permanent dye. tag revenues will pay for the inevitable smoke police salaries. Our benevolent rulers and special interest groups should welcome this new and exciting sport and tria-l attorney assns will jump at the opportunity to become involved in a lucrative innovative use of law with new tort issues aplenty-even the NRA has to support this-just think of hunting in an urban setting,no camping, no roughing it-and the IEA can provide high dollar, required training before being able to buy a tag–there’s a whole new industry to bolster the economy,get people working and provide the Gov with another press conference
- No smokes for you! - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 11:23 am:
We can’t let this get rolled back. If we do, we’ll never ban smoking in cars or in private homes where children are present.
- Win Stone Lite - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 11:23 am:
the countdown clock is ticking…..just 11 months til BlowHard Bill is gone ….1-14-09
- Jon Shibley Fan - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 11:31 am:
“health extremists”
Gray Wolf, that is the funniest thing I’ve read on this board today.
- JayBeeCee - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 12:18 pm:
“we’ll never ban smoking in cars or in private homes where children are present.” I hope this was said tongue in cheek, but i fear it wasn’t. I didn’t realize that some people considered the public smoking ban merely a step towards telling people what legal activities they can or can’t do in their car or home. Scarry.
- plutocrat03 - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 12:42 pm:
So how many anti-smoking zealots have been frequenting places the ‘could not go to before’?
You better go to the casinos who are reporting a 17% decrease in revenues.
The state government is soooooo toast.
Now the smokers, then the overeaters, then those who refuse to exercise. I’m thinking that mandatory veganism is coming soon.
- Miranda - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 12:55 pm:
“You better go to the casinos who are reporting a 17% decrease in revenues.”
And this is all due to the smoking ban? The economic crises, such as the mortgage foreclosure rates and the pending recession, doesn’t have anything to do with it?
- wordslinger - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 2:15 pm:
Smoking, like many bad habits, is legal. This is America — certainly, there must be some sort of compromise possible.
Some people want to smoke, many don’t. For establishments who wish to offer the option, put in requirements for advanced air filtering, then let people decide on their own. If you don’t want to work in a place that allows smoking, don’t. I don’t work in a coal mine. I don’t hang from a two-by-four washing windows on Michigan Avenue. I don’t drive a cab. There are always choices.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 2:20 pm:
wordslinger does make a good point about the labor issue. do we now make everyone ride bicycles on the tollway to protect toll booth operators?
i kid, but not much.
- Jon Shibley Fan - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 2:29 pm:
Miranda is right. Casino revenues in Indiana, where one can smoke to one’s heart’s content, are down as well.
http://www.post-trib.com
/business/785112,casino.article
- one of the 35 - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 3:23 pm:
Not that it will do any good to appeal to reason but a visit to the web site for the Oakland Research Institute will provide a summary of the research regarding 2nd hand smoke and cardiovascular disease. Current research indicates that it is a primary cause of vascular inflamation which is known to be the principal cause of atheroschlerosis. I know because I have been so diagnosed; prompting me to learn about my illness and how it will shorten my life. I don’t give a damn that smokers feel their rights are being violated. My life will be shorter due to their reckless and damaging habit. Keep all public places smoke free and resist all attempts to water down the law!
- Ghost - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 4:04 pm:
Rich thats a bit of a niave comment. Do you really think people working in the service industry like waitrissing do it in vast numbers because they selected from a list of high paying choices and just hapopen to alight on that position? They have a choice about jobs like they have a choice about buying food, paying for shelter, clothing their kids, paying taxes and breathing. A lot of these workers are poeple who are taking the jobs they can get in order to survive, there not making glam choices about jobs. I bet Wordslinger was never looking at an eviction notice, a starving kid and a broken car when he made the “choice” to turn down a paying job. its easy in the comfort of a different job to discuss choices; the real world is a different place then an armchair in front of a computer.
protectiong those who find themselves working certain jobs out of economic necessity from being poisoned because they failed to get a different job seems a backwards step as a society.
- Bill - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 4:05 pm:
VM,
Aren’t you the one who is always whining about the “Nanny state”. Looks like another flip flop, although I did like your consistency regarding the death penalty. Watch out,dude. You’re turning into a liberal.
What’s next? Vanilla Man pushes for stricter gun control laws?
- Captain America - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 4:22 pm:
I heard an audio of BLack going ballistic on WBBM-AM this morning. Although I assume he is undeniably a colorful character, it appeared to me that he went beserk. So I say good riddance with respect to his impending retirement, given his lack of self-control. I think we all know that many of our elected officials are profane and vulgar behind closed doors, but his public tirade made him appear to be an arrogant jerk!
- wordslinger - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 4:30 pm:
Ghost, I believe, in a compromise, there could be establishments that, with advanced air filtering, offer the option of smoking. No establishment would be required to offer the option of smoking. There would be choices for patrons, just as there would be choices for workers.
One quick look around the planet, and through history, and I think you’ll find that that humanity has generally been engaged in truly dangerous work in order to survive. I’m for worker safety.I benefit from work safety rules. The key words are choices and compromise. As for myself, before I sat in front of computers, to keep from being evicted I chose to work on farms (extremely dangerous), gas stations (staring down the barrel of that .45) and as a police beat reporter (threats from lunatics).
Today, I got off the El (always a risk, but I choose public transportation for economic and environmental reasons) and was nearly brained by a block of ice that fell from the Stone Container Building. Let’s mitigate risk, but not pretend you can create a risk-free society.
- Captain America - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 4:45 pm:
I see no valid reason for any rollback. But we get the best government/legislation that lobbyists pay for. Just say no to any rollback period because of the undeniable public health hazard created by cigarette smoking! Society will be better off in the long run as the percentage of smokers eventually decreases.
- unclesam - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 6:53 pm:
To Captain America,
I have personally known Bill Black for years, and he is one of the most respected, upstanding representatives in the House.
The reason he became upset had little to do with the smoking ban exemption itself. The primary reason is that the House Democrat leadership said that they would not let him pass his bill out of the committee without adding certain language to the bill (which deals with a larger issue in and of itself).
Bill Black was upset that he was being denied his right to have his bill called and voted on in that committee. He despises when the leadership dictates how the process is to be done — rather than letting the process work as it was intended.
I’m sure Rich can vouch for most of what I have stated.
- Captain America - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 7:44 pm:
I’ll take your word for it,and I stand corrected!
- plutocrat03 - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 9:44 pm:
note Indiana’s decrease in casino revenue around 8% Illinois 17%+
No effect from smoking?
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 10:07 pm:
There may have been a reason, but even Bill admitted he went way too far. The berating of staff was uncalled-for.
- unclesam - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 10:44 pm:
I’ll concede to Bill Black’s opinion of his actions.
- Richard Channing - Thursday, Feb 14, 08 @ 11:03 pm:
“So is Black a smoker himself, or does he get campaign contributions from big tobacco?”
Could be that he appreciates freedom and private property rights.
- Puzzled - Friday, Feb 15, 08 @ 7:01 am:
One exception that exists now (I was surprised to learn) is that hotels and motels still have smoking rooms. Are hotel/motel housekeepers immune to the effects of second hand smoke?
- JRT - Tuesday, Feb 26, 08 @ 10:54 am:
What don’t you anti-smokers understand? This is all BS. No one has ever died from second-hand smoke. Yes, you hear those stories about that waitress who worked at a diner and got lung cancer. Might there be a correlation between second hand smoke and cancer..I guess, but there are so many variables in life. To pin-point one thing is crazy.
The reason I bring this up is because, in life, if you do too much of any one thing will harm you. There is a good reson to ban everything and I am tired of these politicians taking away the things we enjoy (under a BS thing like employee health) and making us buy a license to do it. One day it will affect somthing you enjoy! Then how will you react???
I am a non-smoker, but if I don’t want to be around smoke, I don’t go…That concept works for strip clubs, but not smoking…..Total BS…