Important Smoke-Free Victory!

A message to our advocates:

Greetings all -

Even as the new Illinois General Assembly is sworn in today at the Capitol, I am delighted to report a major early victory!

As some of you know, the state legislature has been in session over the last several days. Technically, this was the end of the old, 95th Illinois General Assembly, which concluded its session yesterday, on January 13th. The new 96th General Assembly was sworn in today.

At the same time, as some of you also know, the Smokefree Illinois law passed two years ago needed revisions. The law left open some legal questions that made prosecution of violator’s difficult and thwarted enforcement efforts in some parts of the state.

Here is a link to a recent Chicago Tribune article on this subject: http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/health/chi-smoke-ban-13-jan13,0,265832.story

Usually little of substance happens during the last few days of a lame duck General Assembly. However, due to the media coverage, the public outcry for a completely smoke-free Illinois and the support of key legislative champions including state Rep. Karen Yarbrough and state Sens. John Cullerton and Terry Link, Senate Bill 2757 (House Amendment 1) passed both houses of the 95th General Assembly in record time over the last couple of days! The bill clarifies statutory language and affirms that the Smokefree Illinois Act is legally enforceable and is to be strongly enforced state-wide. The legislature did not want to wait several more months to fix the problem. This rarely happens. The notion that a smoke-free bill merited that kind of effort and support from legislative leaders, especially at a time when so much else is happening in Springfield, would have been laughable just a few years ago…. With YOUR support, we’ve come a very long way!

Here is a link to information about SB 2757 (House Amendment 1): http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocNum=2757&GAID=9&DocTypeID=SB&LegId=37148&SessionID=51&GA=95

The legislation now goes to the Governor for approval. (Maybe “a” governor rather than “the” governor is more accurate.) Since the bill passed with a vote of 102 – 12 in the House and unanimously in the Senate, we are cautiously optimistic that whoever is in the Governor’s Office at that time will sign the bill quickly. We will be working on that over the coming weeks and will keep you in the loop. We will also be updating our blog (http://www.heartofillinois.blogspot.com/) and getting out You’re The Cure Network Action Alerts when the time is right.

For now, let’s celebrate an early legislative success in 2009 and hope that it is a first of many this year! With your support, the public health agenda is gaining strength in Springfield and in Washington, DC.

Thank you for your help!

___________________

Mark E. Peysakhovich
Senior Director of Advocacy
American Heart Association and
American Stroke Association,
Midwest Affiliate

208 S. LaSalle Street, Suite 1500
Chicago, IL 60604
Tel: 312-476-6644
Toll Free: 800-677-5481, x6644
Fax: 312-346-7375
E-mail: mep@heart.org
www.americanheart.org