The Smoke-Free Movement
State Journal-Register Editorial - Casinos Shouldn't Be Exempted from Smoke-Free Act
State Journal-Register
Published Sunday, June 24, 2007
Nix smoke ban exemption for casinos
THE RULE of thumb is, "Nothing is ever really dead in the General Assembly." That certainly appears true for an effort to exempt the state's riverboat casinos from the comprehensive smoking ban that was approved this session. The ban legislation awaits the governor's signature.
Ever since the statewide smoking ban legislation passed, the riverboat folks have been scrambling to find a legislative way out of the new smoking restrictions.
A generic bill concerning the horse racing industry - Senate Bill 890 - was amended several times this session to create a bill that would exempt casinos from the smoking ban. One of those amendments finally came up for a vote on the final day of regular session, May 31.
That amendment added riverboat casinos to the short list of areas exempted from the smoking ban. It would have had granted this exemption for five years. But the senators did not accept the need for such an exemption, voting the measure down 31 nays to 26 yes votes.
UNFORTUNATELY, the push to continue forcing patrons of Illinois' riverboat casinos to breathe secondhand smoke did not end there. But that push did get much more secretive and weaselly - as tends to be the case when people get desperate in the General Assembly.
A bill - Senate Bill 1370 - that originally would amend the Beer Industry Fair Dealing Act and which passed the Senate 57-0 was gutted last week in the House. Out went the beer; in went the smoking ban exemption.
Such wholesale amendments are commonplace. But in this case, the amendment was placed in the bill in executive committee. The amendment was then immediately adopted. No public posting was made to allow possible opponents to have their say in the committee meeting. This was dirty pool.
"You can always look at amendments that are supposed to be heard in committee ahead of time. Every day we go in and look at all the amendments that have been put out there to see if there is anything that affects us," said Kathy Drea, director of public policy for the American Lung Association of Illinois.
Typically, the amendment is sent to the rules committee, where it is then assigned to another committee for a hearing and vote. This gives people time to react to the legislation. At least that's the process a legislator would describe if he or she were speaking at the Morning Optimist Club's meeting at Bob Evans. But that's not necessarily the process desperate legislators follow when trying to shove a bad bill through. "In this case it did not go through rules committee at all," said Drea.
THERE'S STILL TIME to stop this bill. And it should be stopped. There is no good reason to subject gamblers to secondhand smoke. A statewide poll showed only 29 percent of people favoring an exemption for riverboats.
The people pushing this legislation are using "the sky is falling" economic argument, saying the casinos will be financially destroyed by a smoking ban. In late 2002, the state of Delaware went smoke-free in public places. Dire predictions were made. Here's what Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner says about that: "Conversely, there are more restaurants and bars licensed in Delaware now than when the act went into effect. Delaware's three slot-machine casinos have all experienced their highest revenue periods in the last two years."
So much for that argument. No wonder pro-smoking lawmakers feel the need to break the rules to get this passed. They can't turn to logic for support.
Published Sunday, June 24, 2007
Nix smoke ban exemption for casinos
THE RULE of thumb is, "Nothing is ever really dead in the General Assembly." That certainly appears true for an effort to exempt the state's riverboat casinos from the comprehensive smoking ban that was approved this session. The ban legislation awaits the governor's signature.
Ever since the statewide smoking ban legislation passed, the riverboat folks have been scrambling to find a legislative way out of the new smoking restrictions.
A generic bill concerning the horse racing industry - Senate Bill 890 - was amended several times this session to create a bill that would exempt casinos from the smoking ban. One of those amendments finally came up for a vote on the final day of regular session, May 31.
That amendment added riverboat casinos to the short list of areas exempted from the smoking ban. It would have had granted this exemption for five years. But the senators did not accept the need for such an exemption, voting the measure down 31 nays to 26 yes votes.
UNFORTUNATELY, the push to continue forcing patrons of Illinois' riverboat casinos to breathe secondhand smoke did not end there. But that push did get much more secretive and weaselly - as tends to be the case when people get desperate in the General Assembly.
A bill - Senate Bill 1370 - that originally would amend the Beer Industry Fair Dealing Act and which passed the Senate 57-0 was gutted last week in the House. Out went the beer; in went the smoking ban exemption.
Such wholesale amendments are commonplace. But in this case, the amendment was placed in the bill in executive committee. The amendment was then immediately adopted. No public posting was made to allow possible opponents to have their say in the committee meeting. This was dirty pool.
"You can always look at amendments that are supposed to be heard in committee ahead of time. Every day we go in and look at all the amendments that have been put out there to see if there is anything that affects us," said Kathy Drea, director of public policy for the American Lung Association of Illinois.
Typically, the amendment is sent to the rules committee, where it is then assigned to another committee for a hearing and vote. This gives people time to react to the legislation. At least that's the process a legislator would describe if he or she were speaking at the Morning Optimist Club's meeting at Bob Evans. But that's not necessarily the process desperate legislators follow when trying to shove a bad bill through. "In this case it did not go through rules committee at all," said Drea.
THERE'S STILL TIME to stop this bill. And it should be stopped. There is no good reason to subject gamblers to secondhand smoke. A statewide poll showed only 29 percent of people favoring an exemption for riverboats.
The people pushing this legislation are using "the sky is falling" economic argument, saying the casinos will be financially destroyed by a smoking ban. In late 2002, the state of Delaware went smoke-free in public places. Dire predictions were made. Here's what Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner says about that: "Conversely, there are more restaurants and bars licensed in Delaware now than when the act went into effect. Delaware's three slot-machine casinos have all experienced their highest revenue periods in the last two years."
So much for that argument. No wonder pro-smoking lawmakers feel the need to break the rules to get this passed. They can't turn to logic for support.