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* From today…
Senate President Cullerton personally lobbied to raise the age to buy tobacco to 21.
He says he called Rauner urging him to sign the bill but he vetoed it.
Cullerton says he’ll know it’ll be difficult but he will try to rally votes for an override. “This is about saving lives.” pic.twitter.com/mdTHcVBsIa— Raquel Martin (@WCIA3Raquel) August 28, 2018
He said more than that.
* Cullerton told reporters that he’d never called the governor about a bill before, but he did so “for the first time ever” on Tobacco 21…
I told him that the real effect of his bill is to stop an 18-year-old from buying cigarettes so that he or she could give it to the 14, 15 and 16-year-olds and that’s why the tobacco lobbyists are so much against the bill. I mentioned that there’s issues with borders like there is with a lot of other bills. What really happens is when we pass a good bill and other states don’t have this law they try to pass it themselves and we help them lead the way. I told him that you have an argument about 18, 19 and 20 year-olds being able to vote and serve in the military but not buy cigarettes, but then I reminded him the real problem is the 18-year-olds buying for the young kids.
* Cullerton went on for a bit, then said this…
He didn’t engage in the conversation with me. He thanked me for calling. I told him if he signed the bill I’d say nice things about him. He kinda laughed at that. Then, he vetoed the bill.
The governor’s office says the two men have a “philosophical difference” on the legislation and Cullerton himself said he’s probably hated by the tobacco industry more than anyone else.
OK, but if the Senate President calls you about a pet issue of his, then you should probably take a minute to engage with him and maybe try to find something else to agree on. Even if Rauner isn’t reelected, a veto session is happening in a few months. Just sayin…
The advocates’ press release is here.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 12:45 pm
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===if the Senate President calls you about a pet issue of his, then you should probably take a minute to engage with him and maybe try to find something else to agree on===
In other words, govern.
Phil
Comment by PublicServant Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 12:55 pm
#DUMBJUSTDUMB
Comment by 10th Ward Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 12:56 pm
“Can we make it 16?” asks Kwame.
Comment by City Zen Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 1:16 pm
===He didn’t engage ===
That sums up his term exactly. Legislating and governing require collaboration and integrity. Rauner is incapable of learning. It’s way too late. Just go.
Comment by Langhorne Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 1:26 pm
How many kids will go on to a lifetime of tobacco addiction due to Rauner’s gift to Big Tobacco?
Tobacco use is a great diet strategy…My Mom weighed less than seventy pounds when she finally died.
Go Rauner!!!
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 1:27 pm
please give it a rest with the save the kids mentality
Comment by anon Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 1:50 pm
- anon - Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 1:50 pm:
please give it a rest with the save the kids mentality
Yeah…right…why worry about saving kids?
My bad?
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 1:52 pm
The Governor is not cut out for this. He is unable, or unwilling to learn. I would guess an outsized ego is a large part of the problem. Cullerton has tried.
Comment by Ole' Nelson Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 1:55 pm
But yet a couple months ago Rauner mentioned passing a capital bill before the end of the year. I’m sure he is engendering a cooperative spirit from Democrats to help him with this.
Comment by The Dude Abides Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 2:02 pm
Well I am sure that Rauner just lost a lot more votes from parents.
Comment by A Jack Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 2:04 pm
Rauner did well by vetoing a Bill that included vapor products that are known to be far far safer than Cigs and removes penalties for underage possession. Smoking rates are at all time lows, the last thing we need is SB2332 which would only serve as a boon for the black market and harm small business. The current law is no under 18, how about enforcing it?
Comment by ConcernedCitizen Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 2:12 pm
===vapor products that are known to be===
…owned more and more by big tobacco companies.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 2:15 pm
If the Senate President was concerned with 18 year olds giving it to 14 and 15 year olds, then perhaps they should not have removed the penalties for underage possession.
The bill said we’ll raise the age for buying tobacco but we’ll eliminate the penalties for possessing it. Made no sense.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 2:19 pm
…owned more and more by big tobacco companies… I am not so sure that that is correct, but if it were, that would be a wise business decision as harm reduction via vapor products is obsoleting deadly combustible tobacco. Cig sales are falling and that is all good!
Comment by ConcernedCitizen Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 2:19 pm
@ConcernedCitizen, Eighteen year olds and sometimes nineteen year olds are still in High School. Are you advocating sending the police into High Schools to prevent the transfer of tobacco to underage kids? Peer pressure is also a problem in High School which is why kids get addicted in the first place.
When I was sixteen and the age to buy beer was 19 in Illinois, it was quite easy for sixteen year olds to get beer from their friends. A lot of the kids I grew up with died in alcohol related crashes.
Maybe we can prevent the slow death from tobacco?
Comment by A Jack Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 2:33 pm
And Rauner has the ability to AV, so he could have excluded vaping had he wanted to or set the age to 20. But Rauner didn’t try to compromise with Cullerton as he hasn’t for the last four years. So on this issue Rauner has failed our youth.
Comment by A Jack Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 2:38 pm
I hope this governor doesn’t do anything g that might diminish my dividends from Altria and Phillip Morris.
Comment by BlueDogDem Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 3:20 pm
=== I told him that you have an argument about 18, 19 and 20 year-olds being able to vote and serve in the military but not buy cigarettes, but then I reminded him the real problem is the 18-year-olds buying for the young kids. ===
If that’s the main argument, it’s a losing argument. Cullerton is saying that 18 - 20 year olds should, in theory, have access to tobacco, but we should prohibit it because some of them might act as straw buyers for the under 17 crowd.
Comment by Just Observing Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 4:51 pm
I think the compromise should have been 19. Based on my experience, once I was out of high school, I didn’t have much interaction with 14, 15 or 16 year olds
Comment by Sox Fan Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 5:02 pm
Altria sounds so much more innocent than R.J.Reynolds Tobacco Dealers, eh?
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 5:10 pm
Nah, you’re just pronouncing wrong. Try “Ultria”, and it will all become much clearer.
Comment by Hieronymus Tuesday, Aug 28, 18 @ 9:43 pm