Smoking ban enforcement measure passes Illinois House

chicagotribune.com

January 13, 2009

Throughout last year, Illinois counties awaited guidance from the state on implementing its new and highly controversial ban on smoking in public places.

They never got it, and by many accounts enforcement was lax in some rural and Downstate areas where the law was never popular.

That may change after the Illinois House voted Monday to amend the year-old smoking ban, specifying that violations be treated as civil matters and handled through an administrative process managed by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Absent guidance from the state, violations typically have been treated as criminal complaints. But enforcement stalled significantly when a Bureau County judge ruled in October that the lack of administrative rules meant county courts could not enforce the law.

With all the uncertainty, state's attorneys in some rural counties stopped pursuing complaints.

"You had bar owners and patrons thwarting the law pretty widely and officials declining to do anything," said Mark Peysakhovich, senior director of advocacy for the Illinois chapter of the American Heart Association.

By contrast, most Chicago-area businesses appear to be complying with smoking restrictions.

The problem originated in a bitter standoff last year between Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Illinois lawmakers over his proposed health-care expansion.

During that conflict, administrative rules implementing the Illinois Smoke-Free Act weren't submitted for approval.

"The governor couldn't very well tell [the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules] that it had no authority to deny his health-care expansion and then seek JCAR approval of rules relating to the smoking ban," Peysakhovich said.

The result was a "legal vacuum," Christian County State's Atty. Tom Finks told the Tribune in June. "Legally, the legislature has not given us the proper tools of enforcement," he said, explaining why the county hadn't prosecuted a single violator of the smoking ban at that point.

Under the amended law, state's attorneys would have no role in enforcing the ban, which prohibits smoking in nearly all public places, including restaurants, bars, indoor theaters, concert halls, educational facilities and auditoriums.

Fines are $100 to $250 for smokers and $250 and up for business owners.

The bill goes to the Senate this week, and supporters say they are cautiously optimistic about its prospects.



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