State Senator Dave Koehler (D-Peoria) and State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth (D-Peoria) leave the House chamber after the governor's State of the State address Wednesday.

After a hearing in Peoria last week, an Illinois Senate committee has directed the Department of Public Health (DPH) to write official rules about smoking in outdoor restaurant patios and bar beer gardens.  The hearing was prompted by an incident in which many Peoria-area bars and patrons received smoking tickets for violating the Smoke Free Illinois Act when they thought they were in compliance with the law.  In at least one case, the bar owners had explicitly sought the advice of DPH before they started construction on their beer garden.

“We really need to clarify rules for the police, as well as restaurant and bar owners,” said State Senator Dave Koehler, who has taken a lead role in pushing the issue to the forefront.  “We can’t have Public Health telling bar owners one thing and the police enforcing another.  That’s just not fair for anyone.”

State Senator Dave Koehler is donating his food and lodging reimbursement for today’s special session of the General Assembly to the Community Foundation Wholesome Food Fund, which helps low-income families purchase healthy food at the Peoria Farmers Market.

“I’m disappointed that the governor chose to put taxpayers on the hook for thousands of dollars of travel reimbursements for today’s session of the General Assembly when he could have easily gone with a lower-cost alternative,” said Koehler. 

State Senator Dave Koehler is announcing that members of the Illinois Senate will hold a hearing in Peoria to establish clear rules for how restaurants and bars can allow their customers to smoke in outdoor areas.

The issue came to Koehler’s attention when he learned a Peoria-area bar and grill was fined for violating the Smoke Free Illinois act, despite the fact that owners of the establishment worked with the Department of Public Health to make sure they were following the rules.

“We can’t have small businesses work with the state to make sure they are obeying the law, spend thousands of dollars, and then get fined anyway,” Koehler said. 

Here are the details of the Senate hearing:

Who: The Senate Labor Subcommittee on Employment Issues

When: August 15, 2012 at 11 AM

Where: American Red Cross, 311 John Gwynn Jr. Avenue, Peoria

The committee will discuss the issue and consider how to create uniform rules to regulate smoking in outdoor restaurant and bar areas, based on initial legislation drafted by Senator Koehler with the help of Peoria State’s Attorney Jerry Brady.