SPRINGFIELD - Get ready to snuff out those cigarettes. Illinois lawmakers have voted to ban smoking in bars, restaurants and other public workplaces.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Tuesday he "enthusiastically" supports the idea. If he signs it into law, the restrictions would take effect Jan. 1 and make Illinois the 19th state to impose such a ban.

No butts If the bill becomes law, the statewide smoking ban would take effect in January 2008 and apply to nearly all businesses. Tobacco stores would be exempt, as would private rooms in nursing homes. Hotels and motels would be able to allow smoking in 25 percent of their rooms. Smoking also would be prohibited within 15 feet of entrances to businesses.

People violating the ban could be fined $100 to $250. Businesses that allow violations could be fined $250 a day.

Anti-smoking activists described the legislation as an important step in protecting people, especially waiters and bartenders who are constantly around cigarettes, from secondhand smoke. They estimate secondhand smoke contributes to 2,900 deaths in Illinois each year -- about eight a day.

"Do it for the children. Do it for the elderly. Do it for the people who work in these places," Rep. Karen Yarbrough, D-Chicago, said as she urged colleagues to support her legislation.

The House approved the measure 73-42, a much larger margin than expected.

"I'm shaking from head to foot," said a thrilled Kathy Drea, director of public policy for the American Lung Association of Illinois-Iowa. "I just never expected 73 votes."

Opponents portrayed the vote as a defeat for business owners and for local government.

They said businesses should be free to respond to the marketplace and allow smoking if their customers want it - or ban it if they don't.

Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville, who voted against the measure, rejected the argument that state law should not only protect customers who can choose where to spend their time but also the waiters and bartenders who work amid clouds of smoke.

"Let me tell you something: The service industry is the place to be right now," Black said. "If you want to find a job as a service person in a non-smoking environment, there are hundreds of them, thousands of them, out there. They will bid for your services."

The bar and restaurant industry has argued smoking bans result in some customers just staying home. That won't put the big chains out of business, but it could force some small, local places to go under, they say.

If smoking must be regulated, some lawmakers argued, it should be done at the local level. For the last two years, Illinois law has let each city set its own smoking policy.

Forty-four Illinois communities have approved restrictions on smoking in public places, according to the American Cancer Society.

Critics complain that this arrangement hurts business in cities with smoking bans, because smokers going out for dinner or a drink simply visit neighboring towns. A statewide policy would level the playing field, they say.

If it becomes law, the stBlagojevich said he would review the legislation before making a final decision but would be "shocked" to find anything that keeps him from signing it.

"It sure sounds to me like that would be something that I would enthusiastically sign," he said.

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