Bill Would Ban Smoking on State College Campuses

Source from:  Bloomington (IL) Pantagraph 03/22/2013

SPRINGFIELD - A proposal to ban smoking on all state-supported university and community college campuses narrowly won approval Tuesday from an Illinois Senate committee.

The measure, sponsored by State Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, would require smoking to be entirely banned on such property by July 1, 2014.

Kathy Drea, a spokeswoman for the American Lung Association in Illinois, testified in favor of the proposal, as did Shana Harrison, a graduate student and former student senator from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

"The idea is to promote a healthy learning environment for students, visitors and employees," Drea said, noting similar laws in three states: Arkansas, Iowa and Oklahoma.

The committee endorsed the proposal 7-5, with one Democrat - John Sullivan of Rushville - joining Republican members who opposed the bill as going too far.

Sullivan noted that people currently can step outside the State Capitol building and smoke as long as they are 15 feet away from the door, so why did Link want to have a total smoking ban on all college campus property?

"Maybe what we will do is help people from ever starting," Link said. "If we just get them while they are young, maybe they won't take this up."

"But what about from the staff and employees' standpoint?" Sullivan asked. "Smoking is legal. So, what kind of accommodations will be made for employees who work at these universities and colleges?"

"It's the same thing you have even in private industry when we went smoke-free," Link answered, noting that the campuses of some hospitals and pharmaceutical companies are now entirely smoke-free. People at such places have to leave the property to smoke.

But several committee members questioned how reasonable it would be to require that staff members walk off the property to smoke.

"Most campuses are very large," often park-like with significant space between buildings, said state Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon, who quickly noted that he did not smoke.

"I think we are going a bit too far here," McCarter said.

State Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, questioned some of the proposal's language, which could be read to suggest people could not even smoke in their own cars parked or driving through college campuses.

Senate Bill 2202 now moves to the entire Senate. Enditem