Few locals anxious to see smoking ban lifted

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

A handful of Illinois lawmakers are working to peel away provisions of the state ban on smoking in public places, but the effort may be snuffed out in Naperville.

One bill pending in the state House would give local liquor commissions the authority to award smoking licenses to bars, gaming facilities, adult entertainment establishments, private clubs and other qualifying businesses. The measure, House Bill 1310, is sponsored jointly by Reps. Anthony Deluca, D-Crete; Randy Ramey Jr., R-West Chicago; Daniel J. Burke, D-Chicago; and Robert Rita, D-Blue Island. Currently in committee, it is one of three smoking-related proposals introduced recently in Springfield.

One of the other two, which passed the House last week, would allow casinos to permit smoking until the nearest neighboring state bans the practice in gaming facilities. The third bill, yet to be approved in the House, would give licensed casinos the option of setting aside designated smoking rooms with ventilation for tobacco-using patrons.

The partial repeal of a smoking ban in bars might not become state law, and even if it does, it could face a hazy future here.

“I don’t know if the bill is likely to pass,” said 96th District Rep. Darlene Senger, R-Naperville.

The ban generally has been a success in the local business community.

“We really haven’t seen a whole lot of adverse effect, but some people have, mostly the taverns,” said Peter Ward, bar manager at Quigley’s Irish Pub in downtown Naperville.

In places where food sales account for a significant portion of business, there appear to be few complaints about the state ban.

“I’ve heard nothing but good comments about not smoking in restaurants,” said Mayor A. George Pradel, who also is the city liquor commissioner.

He surmised that the tobacco lobby may be putting pressure on lawmakers to back off and let people light up in more places. He also acknowledged that a lot of smokers are voters as well.

“I think (lawmakers) may be getting pressure, because the Legislature’s always putting taxes on these smokers,” Pradel said.

Senger is apprehensive of the effort to pull back on smoking restrictions.

“If you open a crack, then it will be wide open,” she said. “And we worked so hard on the smoking ban in Illinois.”

The three-year-old law appears to have helped the city’s bottom line. According to Finance Director Karen DeAngelis, income from local food and beverage taxes went up about 6 percent in 2008, the year the ordinance took effect.

After studying the issue when the statewide prohibition was being discussed, The Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce came out in support of it. Patrick Skarr, who handles legislative advocacy for the chamber, said there aren’t any plans to change that stance.

“I’ve yet to have a business tell me, outside of any cigarette or tobacco sales, that the smoking ban has negatively affected their business,” he said.

Chamber representatives are scheduled make their annual spring trip to the state capital next week, and they’ll be attuned to any indication that a change in the law is in order, Skarr said.

When local jurisdictions were examining bans of their own several years ago, opponents argued that a piecemeal approach could hurt the business community, because smokers would readily migrate to neighboring towns where their habit remained legal. So Senger wasn’t surprised to see the casino measure pass in the House. Several of Illinois’ nine casinos lie adjacent to the state line, and all but Par-a-Dice in Peoria are situated within a couple hours’ drive from the border.

“That’s part of the argument, that businesses go to neighboring states because (they allow) smoking,” Senger said.

The casino proposal, which passed 62-52 and now moves to the state Senate, represents a significant softening of the state law that banned tobacco use in virtually all indoor public areas. Rep. Dan Burke, D-Chicago, the bill’s sponsor, emphasized that it’s “about the money.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, if we’re serious about our budget crisis in Illinois, let’s be real. This is not about the smoking issue,” Burke said, estimating that the state has lost out on $800 million in tax revenue from casinos since the ban took effect.

Opponents argued that other states have added casinos, which partly accounts for Illinois’ sliding casino tax revenues. They also predict that carving out an exemption for casinos will embolden other businesses, such as bars and restaurants, to try legislatively sidestepping the smoking ban.

In Naperville, it appears such efforts would face long odds.

“I think smokers are pretty used to going outside now,” Quigley’s Ward said.

Sun-Times Media contributed to this story.