Statewide Smoking Ban

The state senate and house have both passed a statewide smoking ban. Now the governor just has to sign it and he says he will.  No one's been allowed to smoke in Champaign and Urbana bars for the last several months.  And some owners say it has cost them business.  Now bars in outlying communities, like Savoy, fear they'll lose customers too.

The Orchard Lanes bowling alley in Savoy has been a haven for smokers in the last several months.  They can't smoke in Champaign or Urbana, but just a couple miles away in Savoy, it's allowed. But most likely not for long.  Scott Lutz owns Orchard Lanes in Savoy. He says he'll lose 25% of his bowlers if the statewide ban passes. 

"I don't like the idea of dictating what you can do.  You know, as a business owner," says Lutz.

And Representative Bill Black agrees.  The republican tried to fight other legislators for owners like Lutz.  Black says, "if I see some of you voting for this I am going to call you out. Because you are hypocrites. You don't follow  the clean indoor air act now but you are perfectly willing to tell someone who is trying to run a small-neighborhood business what they can do. Let the marketplace prevail!"

If the governor signs the bill, and he says he plans to, all bars in the state will have to follow the new law.  Some bar owners in Champaign say that's the only good thing the state ban will do.

Chad Pitcher, Pia's, says, "this definitely isn't anything we wanted. But it puts everybody in the same playing field, and you know we'll all be a little disappointed for awhile.  Everybody's going to have to regroup."

Some bar owners in Champaign say they still plan to push for the city to repeal its ban. The state's wouldn't start until January.