SPRINGFIELD — Officials in all Illinois communities will be able to consider banning public smoking under a measure signed into law by Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday.

Previously, a quirk in state law allowed only 21 municipalities in the state to regulate public smoking.

But lawmakers voted this spring to eliminate that feature, deciding that all towns and cities should have the power to crack down on smoking if they wish to do so. Blagojevich had expressed ambivalence about the bill in recent weeks, but he signed it Wednesday.

Supporters of the law say it will promote public health around the state. Rep. Karen Yarbrough (D-Maywood), the bill’s sponsor, said she hopes local officials will open the debate in their towns, in the same way that Chicago aldermen have in recent months.

“People have a right to breathe clean air at work,” Yarbrough said. “The science is irrefutable. Workers exposed to second-hand smoke are more likely to develop cancer.”

Chicago Tribune
Published August 11, 2005