In recent years, legislation to close the smoking loophole afforded to casinos in Atlantic City and parimutuel wagering facilities garnered enough support to pass the New Jersey Legislature. A majority of lawmakers in both the Senate and General Assembly issued their backing to amend the 2006 Smoke-Free Air Act to exclude casinos and racetracks from allowing cigarettes and cigars.

GOP members now say they’ll rescue the smoking bills and get them across the finish line, and on to Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D) desk.

Popular Legislation

Assembly Minority Leader John DiMaio (R-Warren) believes it’s time that casino workers are provided the same workplace protections as most other employees.

If Democrats are serious about protecting workers, Republicans are ready to help pass the bill,” said DiMaio. “We need legislative action, not excuses.”

Legislative action is likely the only recourse to end the indoor casino smoking allowance after state courts recently ruled that the 2006 law doesn’t violate worker protections afforded under the New Jersey Constitution. The lawsuit, filed by the United Auto Workers, a union that represents table game dealers at Bally’s, Caesars, and Tropicana, has been appealed to the state’s Supreme Court but its acceptance presumably faces long odds.

This isn’t about politics. It’s about doing what’s right for workers and their families,” DiMaio continued. “With significant bipartisan support, there’s no reason not to get this done.”

The casino industry says there is.

Despite higher revenue, Atlantic City casino profits collectively declined 1.7% in the second quarter. During the first half of the year, resort revenue was up 1.5% but profits dropped almost 5% year over year. Higher operating costs were blamed.?

Casino Workers Hopeful?

While UAW has fought to move smoking outside, the larger Atlantic City casino union — Unite Here Local 54 — has backed the industry and argued that a smoking ban would hurt the health of its members by eliminating jobs. A grassroots coalition of resort workers disagrees.

Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE) has been campaigning for years to eliminate secondhand smoke. The group celebrated Republicans’ willingness to join their crusade.

“Clean air is a bipartisan issue, with both sides recognizing the urgent need to protect workers from secondhand smoke,” said Nicole Vitola, a co-founder of CEASE and a longtime casino dealer. “Now the legislature needs to put their words into long overdue action and vote on this immediately.”

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Mercer County Judge Patrick Bartels last month dismissed a lawsuit against the state that alleged New Jersey’s 2006 Smoke-Free Air Act that provided carveouts for indoor smoking at casinos and parimutuel wagering facilities violates employees’ rights to a safe workplace.

“It is past time to allow casinos the exclusive right to poison their workers for claimed profits,” said attorney Nancy Erika Smith, who filed the appeal on behalf of the UAW and CEASE.

The appeal seeks “emergent relief,” or an expedited review of the matter since the lawsuit claims personal health and worker safety is involved.

Judge Finds Law Constitutional?

Bartels ruled against the UAW and CEASE after concluding that the state’s smoking law doesn’t prevent a worker from seeking employment elsewhere.

“The act places no parameters on a casino worker’s ability to seek work in a smoke-free environment,” Bartels wrote in his ruling. “It cannot be said that the New Jersey Legislature’s actions in providing exceptions to the Smoke-Free Air Act restricts the casino workers’ right to pursue safety under the New Jersey Constitution.”

Attorneys defending the nine casinos in Atlantic City, which want to retain indoor smoking on claims that a smoking ban would cost revenue and jobs, argued that only the legislature can change the smoking law — not a judge.

Our elected officials struck what they believed was the most appropriate balance and have had the opportunity every year for 18 years since the act was passed to strike a different balance. If the Legislature changes its collective mind and decides to strike a different balance, then the law will change. If not, the law must stand, and plaintiffs’ complaint must be dismissed,” attorney Chris Porrino said on behalf the casinos.

Porrino added that the legislature’s justifications for including the casino smoking loopholes were understandable.

“The simple facts are that many people who gamble like to smoke. If the smoking exemption is stricken, jobs will be lost and employees will be out of work, medical, and other benefits,” Porrino said.

Odds Long

The Atlantic City casino smoking appeal faces long odds of being taken up in the New Jersey Supreme Court. The court in Trenton receives over 1,000 petitions each year but accepts only about 100 cases.

To be accepted, the petition must convince the court that the appellate judges made a legal error in deciding the case,” the New Jersey Supreme Court website explains.

New Jersey’s latest Health Assessment in 2022 found that about 10% of the adult population smokes cigarettes. That’s down from 17% in 2012.

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The AFL-CIO, or American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, represents both leading casino unions in Atlantic City. The United Auto Workers (UAW) Region 9 represents Atlantic City table game dealers at the three aforementioned properties, while Unite Here Local 54 represents nongaming workers at all nine casinos in town.

UAW Region 9 Director Daniel Vicente Jr. revealed to NPR on Wednesday that the union’s New Jersey chapter will terminate its AFL-CIO membership after the national trade federation worked against its efforts to extinguish indoor casino smoking in Atlantic City.

I cannot express how furious our institution is at the New Jersey state-level AFL and the other unions that filed an injunction status against us,” Vicente said. “This is a moral, health, and safety issue.”

In April, the UAW helped casino workers file a lawsuit against the State of New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy (D), and NJ Health Commissioner Kaitlan Baston challenging the state’s permittance of casino smoking in designated areas. The lawsuit alleged that casino workers’ rights to personal safety in the workplace were being violated.?

Union Bickering

While the UAW wants casino smoking banned to protect its table game union members, Unite Here doesn’t. Local 54 represents resort workers employed as housekeepers, servers, bartenders, kitchen staff, bellmen, and porters. The Unite Here chapter believes a smoking ban would lead to reduced gaming revenue and threaten some 3,000 jobs.

“A total smoking ban would place thousands of jobs at risk, endangering the wages, health, welfare benefits, and retirement benefits of Local 54 members and their families,” the union wrote in the Superior Court filing.

Superior Court Judge Patrick Bartels ultimately ruled in the casinos’ favor on grounds that the state’s smoking carveout for casinos doesn’t violate workers’ protections under the New Jersey Constitution.

Vicente took issue with the AFL-CIO not supporting the UAW’s efforts to provide safe workplaces for its members.

That organization has been actively undermining our efforts to protect the health and safety of our members,” Vicente declared.

The AFL-CIO says on its website that it brings together 60 national and international unions to collectively bargain on behalf of their 12.5 million members for better pay and benefits, worker rights, workplace health and safety, and gender equality.

Casino Smoking Debate?

Anti-smoking opponents in New Jersey aren’t buying what Unite Here and the nine casinos are selling in claiming a tobacco ban would lead to gaming revenue declines. They point to nearby Philadelphia where Parx Casino just north of the city is the top gaming revenue generator among Pennsylvania’s 17-casino industry.

Unite Here Local 54 President Donna DeCaprio, who celebrated Bartels’ ruling, said the union “has been instrumental in creating a safer environment for both workers and customers” and “will continue to focus on solutions that both improve workers’ safety and protect their jobs.”

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CEASE, or Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects, debuted two 30-second videos on YouTube Wednesday featuring children of casino workers who are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke. In the first video, Ayana, the granddaughter of CEASE co-founder Lamont White, a table game dealer at the Borgata, discussed the challenges of his job.

When he comes over after work, if we try to hug him he won’t let us because he knows he smells like smoke,” Ayana says. “He doesn’t want us to inhale that. If they want to smoke, they should take it outside.”

In another “Kids of CEASE” video, Nathan, whose parents both work in Atlantic City casinos, said he worries about his mom and dad being exposed daily to secondhand smoke.

I definitely worry for my mom and dad, letting people just smoke in their face. It’s not fair… they are risking their lives for our lives.”

Nathan reveals that his mother is currently pregnant but continues to work to support the family.

Unions at Odds?

CEASE told Casino.org that the anti-smoking videos will air in key legislative districts across New Jersey, including in Assemblyman Bill Moen’s (D) District 5. The deputy majority leader is a primary sponsor of Assembly Bill 2143, legislation that would extinguish the indoor smoking loophole given to casino floors under the state’s 2006 Smoke-Free Air Act.

Despite co-authoring AB 2143, Moen has stalled the bill in the Assembly Tourism, Gaming, and the Arts Committee that he chairs. The bill already has enough Assembly support to clear the chamber by way of more than 40 co-sponsors in the 80-person lower house.

The United Auto Workers (UAW), which represents table game dealers at Bally’s, Caesars, and Tropicana, is supportive of prohibiting indoor casino smoking. But Unite Here Local 54, which represents thousands of Atlantic City casino workers in nongaming functions, does not. Unite Here believes a smoking ban could result in at least one, possibly two, casinos closing which would devastate the local economy.

Videos Follow Court Ruling

The UAW helped CEASE fund a lawsuit challenging the 2006 indoor smoking carveout for casinos and parimutuel facilities in New Jersey. The litigation claimed that casino workers’ rights to personal health safety are being violated.

Last week, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Patrick Bartels disagreed. He said the state legislature didn’t violate the state’s founding framework when it allowed casinos to designate up to 25% of their gaming space for tobacco use.

Bartels reasoned that the Smoke-Free Air Act “does not hinder or affect a person’s ability to seek work in a smoke-free environment” nor does the law restrict “casino workers’ right to pursue safety under the New Jersey Constitution.” CEASE is expected to appeal the ruling to the New Jersey Supreme Court.

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New Jersey’s 2006 Smoke-Free Air Act banned indoor tobacco use in most indoor places other than private residences. The law provided some exemptions, with licensed casinos in Atlantic City being allowed to designate up to 25% of their gaming areas for tobacco use.

“Because of the publicly known risks of secondhand smoke, that smoking has never been banned in casinos except for a short period during COVID-19, that the Smoke-Free Air Act’s exceptions only affect a few industries, and that the Smoke-Free Air Act does not hinder or affect a person’s ability to seek work in a smoke-free environment, it cannot be said that the New Jersey Legislature’s actions in providing exceptions to the Smoke-Free Air Act restricts the casino workers’ right to pursue safety under the New Jersey Constitution,” Bartels wrote in his opinion published Friday.

Each of the nine casinos in Atlantic City takes advantage of its smoking allowance. Critics say smoke knows no boundaries and dangerous, toxic secondhand smoke permeates the casino areas.

Odds Favor Appeal?

Attorney Nancy Erika Smith argued on behalf of CEASE and the UAW. She said an appeal to the New Jersey Supreme Court is forthcoming.

While the rest of the nation moves away from poisoning workers for profits, New Jersey shames itself,” Smith said. “As long as the governor, the legislature, and the courts allow the extremely rich casino industry to poison its workers, we will continue our fight.”

CEASE cofounder Lamont White said the “fight is far from over.” White hopes the court ruling will bring more enthusiasm to Trenton for state lawmakers to support bipartisan legislation to amend the Smoke-Free Air Act to rescind the casino smoking exemption.

However, after retaining their majority in both chambers, the smoking bills still didn’t progress. Some of the 2023 support was subsequently lost after the casino industry, as well as a union that represents casino workers in nongaming roles, said a smoking ban would cost thousands of jobs and possibly result in a casino closing.?

Casinos Celebrate

For now, Bartels’ ruling is a win for the nine Atlantic City casinos. The retaining of smoking comes as Atlantic City’s casinos last week revealed that their operating profits slid nearly 2% in the second quarter despite increased revenue.

We are gratified by the court’s decision to dismiss the plaintiff’s complaint and deny its attempt to change the Smoke-Free Air Act outside of the legislative process,” said Mark Giannantonio, president of Resorts Casino and the Casino Association of New Jersey. “We look forward to continuing to work with stakeholders towards a solution that addresses the health concerns of our employees, while also protecting the collective interest and well-being of the entire Atlantic City workforce.”

Commercial casinos/racinos operate in 28 states. Seventeen allow indoor smoking.

The post Atlantic City Casino Smoking to Remain, as New Jersey Judge Dismisses Lawsuit appeared first on Casino.org.

Bally’s brass continued to stress that forcing their casino floors to go entirely smoke-free would devastate gaming revenue. That, they claim, would result in job layoffs and less tax money for the state.

Legislation to force the two casinos to extinguish indoor tobacco smoking failed yet again in the Providence capital. But the evening before the state Senate and House of Representatives adjourned for 2024, members of a House committee provided hope for casino smoking opponents that 2025 will finally be the year gaming floors go smoke-free.

Ceremonial Vote

House Bill 7500 was introduced in February by Rep. Teresa Tanzi (D-South Kingstown), a former smoker who has been championing efforts in Providence to extend the state’s Public Health and Workplace Safety Act that banned indoor smoking in most businesses and public places to the Bally’s properties. Nine Democrats co-sponsored the partisan measure.

HB 7500 was directed to the House Finance Committee where the statute was considered on May 3. The committee members, despite being controlled 13-2 by Democrats, motioned to hold the bill “for further study” of the economic impacts such an enactment would create for the Lincoln and Tiverton casinos.

The Rhode Island chapter of CEASE — Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects — though disappointed that 2024 repeated history in not forcing the Bally’s casinos to usher smokers outside, acknowledged that the committee vote could provide momentum to get a casino smoking bill over the finish line in 2025.

Bally’s Corp. shareholders in May rejected a proposal from an investor that requested the company conduct a comprehensive review of how business would be impacted if all all of its casinos were to eliminate indoor smoking. Bally’s had encouraged shareholders to vote against the “unwarranted and unreasonable” pitch.

Bally’s Wins

Along with retaining smoking at its two casinos, Bally’s successfully lobbied state lawmakers to allow the Lincoln and Tiverton casinos to extend higher credit lines to VIPs and high rollers. At the request of the casino company, Sen. President Dominick Ruggerio (D-North Providence) led Senate Bill 3040 through the legislature.

The bill would allow Bally’s to issue $100K in cash to qualified players, up from the current $50K cap. The Senate signed off on the measure in early June and the House approved the statute on June 11.

SB 3040 has since been forwarded to Gov. Daniel McKee’s (D) desk. The governor hasn’t yet acted on the casino credit amendment but is expected to allow the measure to become law.

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The Cherokees’ cannabis facility is currently open to anyone aged 21 and older who possesses a tribal-issued medical marijuana card. The Great Smoky Cannabis Company’s dispensary also accepts out-of-state medical marijuana cards.

The tribe plans to soon expand access to recreational marijuana use at its Great Smoky outpost. In addition to distribution, the company harvests and manufactures the products it sells.

The plan is to first make recreational products available to tribal members next month. The Great Smoky Cannabis Company hopes to have recreational marijuana access available to nontribal members in August.

Cannabis Corner?

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ sovereign territory is located in the southwestern part of North Carolina. Despite legal medicinal and recreational marijuana use expanding greatly across the US in recent decades, the Great Smoky Mountains remain relatively free of legal marijuana.

North Carolina and South Carolina have no legal use of cannabis products. Neighboring Georgia and Tennessee allow for CBD oil but products containing THC, the intoxicating and mind-altering component of the cannabis plant, remain prohibited.

The Cherokees are the lone federally recognized tribe in North Carolina and have an ideal territory in the southwest part of the state that can market cannabis to residents in nearby Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The sale of recreational cannabis is expected to grow the tribe’s economy, which is primarily dependent on Harrah’s Cherokee and its sister property, Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River, in Murphy.

Tribal Freedoms

Cannabis remains illegal under federal law but the US government has told states that its Justice Department won’t pursue legal action against states that decide to decriminalize the plant’s use and possession.

As a result, tribal governments with federal recognition can determine their own laws on marijuana use, possession, and distribution.

As for the Cherokees, the tribe’s cannabis rules require that products from the Great Smoky Cannabis Company be consumed in private — not in public — and possession and consumption within 100 feet of any school, daycare, church, hospital, park, playground, and any other community facility is prohibited. Violators face a $500 fine, 72 hours of community service, and a substance abuse assessment. Subsequent violations can result in jail time.

The tribe reminds nontribal members that federal laws apply once a person departs the Cherokees’ tribal lands.

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The Pennsylvania chapter of Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE) joined the United Auto Workers (UAW) Region 9 union to rally for pro-worker bills that continue lingering in the state capital building. One measure they voiced support for was House Bill 1657, the so-called Protecting Workers From Secondhand Smoke Act.

Legislators have a responsibility to stand with workers and that means ensuring the safety of everyone in the workplace, starting with eliminating indoor smoking in our casinos,” said Jennifer Rubolino, a table games dealer at Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh and a CEASE co-lead in the commonwealth. “Closing the casino smoking loophole is not just a moral duty but a smart decision for the state, especially considering that 90% of guests do not smoke.”

HB 1657 was introduced in September 2023 by Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny), who chairs the House Health Committee and for years has been trying to close the casino smoking loophole. The measure passed Frankel’s Health Committee in mid-November with a 13-11 partisan vote where each “yea” vote came from Democrats and each “nay” came from all GOP members.

Health Over Profits

Many Republican lawmakers have seemingly sided with the casino lobby on claims that a full smoking ban would push some gamblers to nearby Atlantic City where indoor smoking remains permitted in certain sections. The casinos claim a tobacco prohibition would reduce revenue and result in the gaming venues cutting jobs.

The primary Parx property has been the top-grossing casino in the state for several years. While smoking proponents say that’s because the casino gets much of the nonsmoking crowd in the Philadelphia metro, casino smoking opponents say it’s because smoke-free casinos are preferred by the majority of the public.

‘We’ve seen the success of smoke-free casinos in this state,” Rubolino continued.

Rubolino added that even if smoke-free casinos generated less revenue, clean indoor air workplaces and protecting workers’ health should outweigh in importance casino companies’ bottom lines.

“How do you put a price on the health of employees? We urge legislators to pass comprehensive smoke-free laws to ensure that no one has to sacrifice their health for a paycheck,” she concluded.

Session Longer Than Most

Many state governments have much shorter sessions than Pennsylvania. The Keystone State’s lawmaking period for 2024 began on January 2 and runs through November 30, meaning there’s still plenty of time for Frankel’s casino smoking bill to get across the finish line.

“Unions in Pennsylvania and unions around this country have fought for workers and it’s not just wages and benefits,” Frankel said at the capital. “It is also for their health and welfare. That is what we are talking about with the Clean Indoor Air Act.

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A spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Line, a subsidiary of Florida-based Carnival Corporation, confirmed this week on social media that the cruise line now offers 10 ships with smoke-free casino spaces.

Smoke-free casinos aboard major cruise ships continue to find favor among cruisers.

Along with Carnival announcing 10 smoke-free casinos, Royal Caribbean last year turned several jazz clubs into gaming rooms where smoking is allowed. Royal Caribbean, the world’s second-largest cruise operator behind Carnival Corp., turned its “Jazz on 4” lounges aboard each of the company’s six Oasis class ships into smoke-free casinos.

Cruise Ship Smoking Rules

In announcing the rollout of its smoke-free casinos, Heald reminded passengers that smoking is prohibited throughout most of the ships except in designated areas. Smoking inside all staterooms is forbidden, as is smoking on stateroom balconies.

Major cruise lines have designated outdoor areas where guests are allowed to light up in a controlled, safe manner. Cruise officials say fires are among the greatest threats to a cruise’s safety.

If you get caught, and we do catch many who break this law, there will be an instant $500 fine,” Heald said on social media in response to a question about smoking. “If after that your smoking continues, then we may disembark you and you may not be allowed to sail again [with Carnival].”

Carnival and other large cruises offer guests an anonymous tip line to report smoking violations. The regulation additionally applies to tobacco vapes. As a reminder, bringing cannabis aboard a commercial cruise ship is illegal on the federal level.

“Based on the number of cruise ships and passengers who choose to travel on these vessels every year, fire-related accidents affect a proportionally small number of crew members and passengers,” Winston explained. “Most incidences are relatively minor and may cause nothing more than an early return to port.”

Casino Smoking Only for Gamblers

Carnival’s website details that its primary casinos are the only indoor places where smoking is allowed aboard the ships. However, only those seated at a slot machine or table game and actively gambling are permitted to light up a cigarette.

Smoking at the casino’s bar or while standing is prohibited. Cigars and tobacco pipes are, too, as those products are only allowed in the designated outdoor areas.

When the casinos aren’t in operation while docked or not yet in international waters, no smoking is permitted in the enclosed environments. Many casinos, Heald added, are used as muster stations during the embarkation process.

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House Bill 7500 was introduced in February. The statute would repeal the indoor smoking provisions provided to Bally’s Twin River Lincoln and Bally’s Tiverton through the state’s Public Health and Workplace Safety Act passed in 2004.

Bally’s reps argued a smoking ban would hurt their operations and, subsequently, the state by reducing gaming income. The Bally’s casinos run slot-like video lottery terminals (VLTs) on behalf of the Rhode Island Lottery. The state receives about 60% of the VLT revenue.

Casino Smoking Bills Mothballed

The House Finance Committee, despite being controlled by Democrats 13-2, decided to hold HB 7500 instead of voting to move it to the full House floor. The committee “recommended the measure be held for further study.”

There’s since been no action on the bill. The Senate version of HB 7500, Senate Bill 2368, has also been shelved. Senate Finance Committee members motioned to hold the bill for further review, too.

Rhode Island’s two casinos can designate as much of their gaming floors for smoking as they wish. However, nonsmoking sections are to be “physically separated” from smoking areas and equipped with separate ventilation systems.

Bally’s Twin River Lincoln Vice President Craig Sculo told the House Finance Committee that smoking bans aren’t good for a casino’s business. Sculo said the Bally’s casinos offer employees options to work in smoke-free areas and just this month added a second nonsmoking gaming space at the Lincoln resort that complements the smoke-free second-floor casino.

Lawmakers behind the push to extinguish smoking say secondhand smoke doesn’t abide by smoking section rules and permeates much of the workplace.

Imagine what it’s like, night after night, going home with cigarette smell in your hair, having to shower before you even got into bed,” said state Rep. Teresa Tanzi (D-South Kingstown), a former smoker and lead sponsor of HB 7500. “Every single night, throwing your clothes in the laundry every single night because of the stench of smoking.”

Tanzi doesn’t buy what Bally’s is selling in claiming a smoking ban would hurt business. She said many restaurants and bars argued the same before the state’s 2004 smoking law went into effect.

“The sky has not fallen, and we are all better off as a result,” Tanzi said. “I’m optimistic this would make things better for casino workers and the bottom line of the state budget.”

Time Ticking

As the casino smoking bills linger in the Providence capital, the 2024 legislative session for the Rhode Island General Assembly moves toward its end. The legislature is set to adjourn on June 30.

The results of the vote haven’t yet been made public. If at least 5% of the shares voted in favor of the study, the matter can be raised again during the company’s 2025 annual meeting.

The post Bill to Outlaw Casino Smoking in Rhode Island Faces Long Odds appeared first on Casino.org.

The Miccosukee Tribe is one of two federally recognized tribes in Florida, along with the much larger Seminole Tribe. The tribe owns and operates the Miccosukee Casino & Resort in Miami at the entrance to the Florida Everglades along US Highway 41/Tamiami Trail.

While the Miccosukee Casino already has a small smoking room with a smattering of slot-like electronic bingo machines near the Cyprus Lounge and M Sphere Rewards players’ lounge, the tribe says this summer it will open a considerably larger dedicated room where tobacco smoking will be allowed.

We value our customers’ feedback and strive to meet their needs,” said Brad Rhines, general manager of the tribal casino. “Many of our guests have requested a new, indoor, dedicated smoking section, and I am proud that we will be unveiling this unique attraction to them very soon.”

Rhines said the smoking space will open this summer. It will feature a “sophisticated design” with an “upscale bar,” he added. A social media post from the tribe on the casino smoking room added that the space will feature 117 gaming machines.

Bingo Only

The Miccosukee Tribe has decided not to enter into a revenue-sharing Class III gaming compact with the state government that would provide the Native American group with the opportunity to operate Las Vegas-style slot machines, live dealer table games, and possibly sports betting at its casinos. The advantage of not entering into a compact is that the Miccosukee Tribe retails 100% of its gaming revenue generated at its tribal gaming properties.

Along with its namesake resort casino, the Miccosukee Tribe opened a gaming plaza in the Everglades off Exit 49 of Interstate 75, aka “Alligator Alley,” in February.

The gaming plaza, called the Little Trail Casino, has 150 electronic bingo machines in a smoke-free environment. The facility is complemented by a gas station and convenience store, 12 Tesla charging stations, a Dunkin’, and a café.

At Miccosukee Casino & Resort, the tribe’s gaming space includes nearly 1,800 electronic bingo machines with a bingo hall and 20-table poker room. The resort includes 302 hotel rooms, four dining options, events space, live entertainment, and access to the tribe’s nearby 27-hole golf facility. The Miccosukee Casino also offers a tobacco shop directly on the casino floor. ?

Tribal Casino Smoking

Florida’s Clean Air Act prohibits indoor smoking inside all enclosed workplaces.

Along with the Miccosukees, the Seminoles take advantage of their smoking privileges. Smoking is allowed in designated areas of the casino floors at Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, Seminole Hard Rock Tampa, Seminole Coconut Creek, Seminole Classic Hollywood, Seminole Immokalee, and Seminole Brighton.

The post Florida Tribal Casino Expanding Smoking Area Due to Customer Demand appeared first on Casino.org.

In April, Trinity Health, a healthcare system in Michigan that owns 440 shares of Bally’s traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), proposed to the company that it study the financial implications of going smoke-free at its casinos where indoor tobacco use is permitted on the gaming floors. Trinity’s investment in Bally’s amounts to a 0.001% ownership position in the casino firm, which as of April, had 40.5 million shares outstanding.

Bally’s leadership didn’t comment on the vote outcome, but had encouraged shareholders to vote against the proposal on claims that it’s “unwarranted and unreasonable.”

The Bally’s results come after shareholders at Boyd Gaming defeated a similar smoking ban proposal filed by Trinity Health. Boyd said investors behind 63.6 million shares voted down the casino smoking pitch against 18.5 million shares in favor.

Caesars Entertainment will conduct a casino smoking vote, also proposed by Trinity, during its June 11 annual shareholder meeting in Reno.

Not Entire Loss

Though Trinity Health’s proposal was shot down at Bally’s and Boyd, the outcome wasn’t a total defeat for proponents who want to make the companies’ casinos smoke-free.

Since more than 5% of the Boyd vote was in favor of completing the smoking review, the matter can be brought up again during the company’s 2025 shareholder meeting. If similar results are found at Bally’s and/or Caesars, Trinity would be allowed to raise the issue next year.

We’ve established an incredibly strong foundation from which to build,” said Cynthia Hallett, CEO of American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation (ANRF), a nonprofit that fights to educate the public on the dangers of secondhand smoke and lobbies state governments for clean indoor air workplaces. ANRF participated alongside Trinity in presenting the shareholder pitches.

“Most proposals don’t even make it to a vote, let alone reach double-digit-level support,” Hallett continued. “With this issue now reaching the boardroom, companies cannot hide from this important matter that affects the health and well-being of their employees and guests.”

Inevitable Outcome?

Casino smoking remains permitted in 17 states. Though gambling and smoking have gone hand-in-hand for decades, the ANRF believes casino smoking bans in each of those states are inevitable.

The ANRF points to the fact that smoking used to be common on commercial airlines. Smoking on flights only became illegal through federal regulations passed in February 1990.

The ANRF contends that smoke-free casinos can compete with casinos that allow smoking, as smoking rates continue to decline and more of the gambling public seeks smoke-free environments.

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The UAW and CEASE, Casino Employees Against Smoking’s Effects, filed a lawsuit in April naming Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and state Health Commissioner Kaitlan Baston as defendants. The litigation challenges the constitutional legality of New Jersey’s 2006 Smoke-Free Air Act that allows Atlantic City casinos to designate up to 25% of their gaming floor space for tobacco use.

Superior Court Judge Patrick Bartels heard testimony on Monday from both sides of the debate. Bartels assured he would work swiftly to reach a decision.

Casino Smoking Arguments

Attorneys representing the UAW and CEASE told Bartels that the state’s indoor air act unjustly threatens the health of a faction of employees who have been forced to work in dangerous smoke-filled environments. While casino workers might have known that smoking was allowed when they agreed to be hired, much has been learned over the nearly two decades since the state law was implemented about just how toxic secondhand smoke is.

Union attorney Nancy Erika Smith said workers’ health should reign supreme in Bartels’ decision, not the bottom lines of large casino corporations.

The purpose of the [2006] Act is to protect workers from sickness and death — not to put money in the casinos’ pockets,” she testified. “We are seeking to end a special law which does a favor for casinos and seriously harms workers.”

Smith added that all workers, including casino employees, under the New Jersey Constitution have an equal right to safety.

Chris Porrino, an attorney representing the Casino Association of New Jersey (CANJ), the trade group that lobbies for the interests of the nine Atlantic City casinos in Trenton, argued Smith’s claim is wrong. Porrino said the state constitution provides New Jerseyans the right to “pursue” freedom and personal safety but the state has no obligation to guarantee it.

There is a difference,” Porrino declared. “There is no constitutional guarantee to safety, just as there is no constitutional guarantee to happiness.”

Porrino said state lawmakers did their best in crafting the smoking law.

Our elected officials struck what they believed was the most appropriate balance and have had the opportunity every year for 18 years to strike a different balance,” Porrino said. “If the legislature changes its collective mind and decides to strike a different balance, then the law will change. If not, the law must stand, and plaintiffs’ complaint must be dismissed.”

Murphy has been supportive of a smoking ban but his tune has changed recently in voicing concerns about the economic impact of such a regulatory adjustment. Murphy last month also said he favors allowing the matter to be resolved in the legislature, not a courtroom.

Bills to amend the smoking law have sat in the legislature for months?without action.?

Critical Decision

CANJ and Unite Here Local 54, which represents nongaming resort workers, believe a smoking ban will reduce gaming revenue and lead to widespread layoffs. At least a casino or two would be at risk of closing, the defendants argued.

New Jersey Deputy Attorney General Robert McGuire, representing Murphy in the matter, agreed with Porrino that the state constitution doesn’t guarantee people’s safety. McGuire added that a smoking ban would likely cost many casino workers their jobs, and reduced income could similarly threaten their health.

It has a net effect on the health of New Jersey citizens because those families that lose their jobs may not be able to pay for food,” McGuire said. “They will lose their medical benefits.”

McGuire also highlighted that the state’s Casino Revenue Fund, which receives 8% of the casinos’ annual gross gaming revenue, directs considerable financial resources to health programs for seniors and the disabled. He said a smoking ban would reduce that health benefit.

CEASE pointed to independent research that has suggested that smoking bans help, not hurt, casino business, as smoking rates continue to decline.

The post New Jersey Judge to Issue Casino Smoking Decision ‘Quickly’ appeared first on Casino.org.

Rhode Island-based Bally’s recently announced the debut of a second nonsmoking gaming area to complement the smoke-free second-floor casino. The additional clean-air gaming section is immediately inside the resort’s valet entrance.

The additional no-smoking casino gaming area on the first floor enables guests who prefer a no-smoking environment ample space and opportunities to enjoy their favorite games,” said Craig Eaton, president at Bally’s Twin River Lincoln and Bally’s Tiverton.

The new nonsmoking area features 22 live dealer table games and approximately 550 slot-like video lottery terminals (VGTs). Guests can unwind, gamble, and socialize in the nonsmoking room that includes the Blackstone Bar.

With the inclusion of the additional tables and slots, Bally’s Twin River Lincoln now offers a total of 3,900 slots, 91 table games, 23 poker tables, and 27 electronic stadium-style table games.

Best of Both Worlds?

Casino workers who are tired of breathing secondhand smoke have united across the country through local chapters of a grassroots organization called CEASE, Casino Employees Against Smoking’s Effects. CEASE originated in Atlantic City but has since expanded with chapters in Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan, Virginia, Kansas, and Rhode Island.

Rhode Island’s 2004 Public Health and Workplace Safety Act allows casinos to designate certain areas for smoking. However, smoking sections are to be “physically separated” from the nonsmoking areas and have independent ventilation systems.

The $100 million overhaul also brought a new state-of-the-art ventilation system to the downstairs area where most gaming machines and table games operate. Eaton said last year that the casino’s goal is to not “discriminate against” smokers or nonsmokers, but instead offer options for both sets of players.

“With the addition of the no-smoking casino section, Bally’s Twin River Lincoln continues to enhance its gaming experience, while preserving its ability to accommodate both smoking and nonsmoking guests,” a Bally’s release explained.

Table Game Smoking Banned

Rhode Island’s CEASE chapter continues to lobby for an amendment to the state’s 2004 law to close the casino smoking exemption. The organization was dealt a winning hand in 2022 when it successfully rallied to convince Bally’s officials to extinguish smoking in front of table game dealers.

It was May 2022 when Bally’s Twin River Lincoln and Bally’s Tiverton announced table game players would no longer be allowed to smoke tobacco while seated. Smokers must instead go to a designated smoking receptacle on the outer perimeter of the table gaming area.

The Americans Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation and Michigan healthcare system Trinity Health are behind the activist shareholder pursuits.

Along with its two casinos in Rhode Island, indoor smoking is allowed partially or fully on the casino floors of Bally’s properties in Atlantic City, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Nevada. ?

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The United Auto Workers (UAW) and Casino Employees Against Smoking’s Effects (CEASE) filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court in early April naming Murphy and New Jersey Health Commissioner Kaitlan Baston as defendants. The litigation alleges that New Jersey’s 2006 Smoke-Free Air Act violates the state constitution.

In his brief to the Superior Court, Platkin argues the lawsuit is meritless. He opined that the 2006 smoking law that provides exemptions for casinos “does not infringe on any purported constitutional right to safety.”

Unions at Odds

Attorneys for UAW and CEASE in the lawsuit against the state point to wording in the New Jersey Constitution that says “all persons … have certain natural and unalienable rights, among which are … pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.” The smoking law, the lawsuit claims, violates that condition.

The lawsuit asserts the state constitution also mandates that the legislature not pass any special laws or grant to any corporation exclusive privilege or immunity.

In this case, rich corporate casinos are excluded from the Smoke-Free Air Act, giving them the exclusive right to endanger the lives of their workers,” the lawsuit alleges.

While the UAW is bankrolling the lawsuit that includes CEASE, another union in Atlantic City, Unite Here Local 54, opposes closing the smoking loophole. Unite Here brass says a smoking ban would be “catastrophic” to the Atlantic City casino industry and threaten a third of the resort jobs.

Unite Here represents casino workers employed in nongaming positions like housekeepers, waiters, kitchen employees, bellmen, and porters.

A total smoking ban would place thousands of jobs at risk, endangering the wages, health and welfare benefits, and retirement benefits of Local 54 members and their families,” the union wrote in its court response.

Employment attorney Nancy Erika Smith, who filed the lawsuit on UAW and CEASE’s behalf, told the Associated Press that she’s “never seen a union fight against the health and safety of their members, not once.”

Unite Here Local 54 President Donna DeCaprio rejected that assertion.

“We support the health and safety of our members, and believe that improvements to the current work environment must be made,” DeCaprio responded. “A balance needs to be reached that will both protect worker health and preserve good jobs.”

Smoking Sections Fuel Revenue

DeCaprio contends that between 50% to 72% of the gross gaming revenue (GGR) won by the casinos last year was derived from smoking sections. The nine casinos collectively won more than $2.84 billion from their physical slot machines and table games in 2023, meaning the union boss thinks at least $1.42 billion came from smoking areas.

The UAW says the revenue talking points made by Unite Here have no relevance in its legal filing challenging the state’s smoking law. Murphy, however, said recently that he thinks the matter should be resolved through legislative action, not a courtroom. ?

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Pressed by a caller about the lawsuit recently filed by the United Auto Workers, the union that represents table game dealers at Bally’s, Caesars, and Tropicana, challenging the state’s allowance of smoking inside casinos, Murphy said there are two sides to the matter. The governor stressed his belief that the issue would be best settled out of court through legislative action.

The [UAW] argument is folks are smoking and blowing it right in [dealers’] faces. I get that,” Murphy said. “On the other side, the other big union, Local 54 of Unite Here, does not want [smoking] banned because they’re concerned it will impact the business prospects in Atlantic City.”

Unite Here’s local chapter represents nongaming casino resort workers, including housekeepers, chefs, waitstaff, bellhops, and porters. Murphy nonetheless says if a bill reaches his desk that remedies the controversy, he will sign it.

“I will reiterate — if a bill gets to my desk, subject obviously to the details, I will sign it,” the governor committed.

CEASE Fires Back

CEASE took issue with Murphy recognizing the side that wants to continue allowing indoor casino smoking. The casino workers group, which includes those table game dealers who must endure secondhand smoke daily, argues that their health should outweigh the financial bottom lines of multibillion-dollar corporations.

There are not two equal sides in this fight,” said Pete Naccarelli, co-founder of CEASE. “Gov. Murphy should stop giving credence to casino industry scare tactics powered by alternative facts they manufactured through a report they bought and paid for.”

Naccarelli was referencing a study commissioned by the Casino Association of New Jersey published in 2022 that concluded a smoking ban could cost 2,500 casino jobs and an 11% reduction in annual gross gaming revenue in Atlantic City. Independent research firm Spectrum Gaming conducted the report but CEASE argued it was performed with a bias.

“In fact, non-smoking properties appear to be performing better than their counterparts that continue to allow smoking,” the study concluded.

Legal Challenge?

UAW is representing the interests of a grassroots organization called Casino Employees Against Smoking’s Effects (CEASE). The litigation is seeking a court to declare the New Jersey clean indoor air exemption for gaming facilities unconstitutional.

“The lawyers with whom I’ve spoken have said this gets fixed by statute — not in the court,” Murphy said Friday. UAW disagrees.

If the legislators in Trenton won’t do their jobs, we’re going to take the decision out of their hands and into the courtroom,” UAW Regional Assistant Director Ray Jensen Jr. declared.

Legislation proposing amendments to the 2006 smoking law continues to linger in Trenton without action. Competing bills are seeking to eliminate indoor smoking while another proposes fully enclosed smoking spaces on the casino floors where casinos wouldn’t be allowed to force an employee to work. ?

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Mohegan, the commercial gaming unit of the Mohegan Tribe in Connecticut, told Casino.org that its Poconos property officially debuted the Aristocrat Gaming Lounge at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Friday. Located just inside the resort’s hotel entrance, the 2,000-square-foot facility features 55 of the latest slot titles from Aristocrat, a leading gaming manufacturer.

We are thrilled to launch the smoke-free Aristocrat Gaming Lounge as part of our commitment to providing exceptional and comfortable gaming experiences. Our collaboration with Aristocrat, an award-winning casino slot provider, has allowed us to offer a truly exciting gaming experience,” said Tony Carlucci, Mohegan Pennsylvania president.

A few notable titles inside the smoke-free slots venue include longtime classics Dragon Link, Lightning Link, and Buffalo, as well as newer titles growing in popularity such as Triple Supreme Extreme, Mo Mummy, and Whisker Wheels.

Clean Air Gaming Options

Mohegan Pennsylvania’s main casino floor spans 67,000 square feet and is equipped with over 1,600 slots and nearly 60 live dealer table games. About half of the gaming floor is reserved for cigarette smoking, though cigars are prohibited.

The Aristocrat Gaming Lounge at Mohegan, a casino spokesperson told Casino.org, is “fully enclosed with an entrance to and from the Sky Food Court.” There is also a doored entrance to the smoke-free gaming facility from the Mohegan Pennsylvania hotel.

Mohegan’s Aristocrat Gaming Lounge is only the third fully enclosed smoke-free casino facility in the commonwealth.?

Smokeless Casinos

Only two casinos of Pennsylvania’s 17 brick-and-mortar gaming properties don’t take advantage of the state’s indoor smoking allowance — Parx Casino north of Philadelphia in Bensalem and its sister satellite property Parx Casino Shippensburg.

Parx Casino has for several years been the richest casino in the state. Parx last year won $588.2 million from its physical slots and table games. Wind Creek Bethlehem, which allows smoking, was second at $526.3 million.

Mohegan Pennsylvania generated retail slot and table revenue of approximately $211.2 million, down slightly from the $215.6 million that the property won in 2022.

Located in Wilkes-Barre, Mohegan Pennsylvania is situated on 400 hillside acres. The resort is highlighted by a 238-room hotel, 20,000 square feet of convention space, a variety of restaurants and bars, retail shopping, nightlife, and live harness horse racing.

A short drive away is the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza which regularly attracts major concert acts and plays host to minor league professional hockey.

The post Mohegan Pennsylvania Opens Smoke-Free Gaming Lounge With Aristocrat Slots appeared first on Casino.org.

A new study commissioned by the Nevada Tobacco Control and Smoke-free Coalition finds that nearly six in 10 Nevadans think Nevada’s Clean Indoor Air Act that went into effect in December 2006 should be modified to remove the casino exemption.

The findings come as legislative efforts are underway in Atlantic City to amend New Jersey’s Smoke-Free Air Act, which was also adopted in 2006. In Atlantic City, casinos can designate up to 25% of their gaming space for indoor tobacco use.

Secondhand Smoke More Dangerous Indoors

This week, researchers at the School of Public Health at the University of Nevada, Reno, published a study of air quality in smoking and nonsmoking areas of Nevada casinos. The probe found that secondhand smoke is 18 times more dangerous indoors than outside.

The University of Nevada, Reno, study reached similar conclusions as researchers with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did last year. In that probe, federal health officials said dangerous, elevated levels of Particulate Matter (PM) were detected to be widespread in areas of casinos supposedly smoke-free.

PM particles are 100 times thinner than a human strand of hair and can remain suspended in the air for over 24 hours. The CDC report concluded that the only way to protect worker and patron health inside a casino is to enact a complete smoking ban.

Several commercial gaming states already require their casino floors to be 100% smoke-free. They include Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and South Dakota.

Tobacco smoking in the US continues to dwindle. The CDC reports that smoking rates among adults have dropped from nearly 21% in 2005 to 11.5% in 2021, the most recent surveyed year. Smoking prevalence remains slightly higher in Nevada, with about 15% of adults still smoking.?

Uphill Battle

No industry is more powerful in Nevada than gaming, as casinos employ more workers in the state than any other sector. MGM Resorts is Nevada’s largest employer.

The casino industry is heavily opposed to efforts to extinguish indoor smoking. Casino execs say such a regulation would lead to gamblers playing in other states where smoking remains or at tribal casinos that set their own smoking rules.

Anti-smoking proponents regularly cite Parx Casino north of Philadelphia, the only full-scale casino in Pennsylvania that doesn’t allow indoor smoking, which continues to dominate the statewide gaming industry. Some lobbyists claim a smoking ban would help, not hurt, gaming revenue. However, it could also be argued that Parx is simply the premier destination for nonsmokers while other casinos in the Philly market are splitting the smoking demographic.

The post Majority of Nevadans Think Indoor Casino Smoking Should Be Outlawed appeared first on Casino.org.

The Pennsylvania Health Committee signed off on House Bill 1657 on November 15. Known as the Protecting Workers From Secondhand Smoke Act, the statute was authored by state Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny), a longtime advocate of banning indoor tobacco use to protect employee health.

Pennsylvania lawmakers representing casinos in Philadelphia are concerned that a smoking ban would result in some gamblers taking their business an hour east to Atlantic City.

Smoking Stalemate

Pennsylvania’s Clean Indoor Air Act passed in 2008 provided an exception for casinos that allows brick-and-mortar businesses to allocate up to 50% of their gaming floor space for tobacco use. Of the 17 casinos in the commonwealth, only two, Parx Casino in Bensalem and Parx Casino Shippensburg, don’t take advantage of the smoking allowance.

However, Parx is the richest casino of the bunch. The casino located just north of Philadelphia won $588.2 million last year to easily best runner-up Wind Creek Bethlehem at $526.3 million. Frankel reasons that Parx’s performance shows smoking bans are good — not bad — for gaming businesses.

It’s preposterous to argue that smoking bans are bad for business when Pennsylvania’s most successful casino is voluntarily smoke-free,” Frankel said last fall after his bill cleared the Health Committee.

“A growing body of evidence suggests that smoke-free environments attract more customers, not fewer,” Frankel added. “Pennsylvanians should not have to choose between their jobs and their health. This legislation is not just good for health — it’s also good for business.”

Industry Claims

Commercial gaming lobbyists continue to tell lawmakers that smoking bans hurt business. In Atlantic City, the Casino Association of New Jersey commissioned a study that concluded a smoking ban would reduce annual gaming revenues by as much as 25%, critical income that would lead to significant layoffs and possibly casino closures.

According to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, state casinos employ about 14,800 people at their brick-and-mortar properties. Casino taxes support an array of programs, including property tax reductions, agricultural support, the horse racing industry, community grants, and economic development.

The post Pennsylvania Casino Smoking Bill Continues to Linger in State Capitol appeared first on Casino.org.

Michigan-based healthcare system Trinity Health and the Americans Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation (ANRF) recently submitted shareholder proposals to Caesars Entertainment, Bally’s Corporation, and Boyd Gaming. The submissions request that each company study the financial implications of going smoke-free at all of their casino properties.

Bally’s runs nine casino smoking properties in seven states. Caesars operates 41 casinos in 12 states that permit indoor smoking, and Boyd has 25 casinos in eight states with smoking.?

Shareholder Proposals

Trinity Health and Americans Nonsmokers’ Rights are asking each company to investigate — and possibly realize — that excluding indoor smoking is actually good for business. The proposal cites independent research commissioned by ANRF that concluded in 2021 that a majority of gamblers prefer smoke-free casinos.

There are potential business risks to allowing indoor smoking in Boyd Gaming properties, from higher employee health insurance premiums (when compared with casinos that don’t permit indoor smoking), greater maintenance costs, and deterring a significant number of potential visitors who won’t visit a casino due exposure to tobacco smoke (87% of the American public does not smoke),” the shareholder proposal submitted to Boyd Gaming read.

“Shareholders have no guidance as to the costs our Company is bearing for continuing to allow indoor smoking, nor has the Company disclosed the social and environmental costs and risks imposed on its stakeholders,” the submission continued. “Shareholders request the Board of Directors commission and disclose a report on the potential cost savings through the adoption of a smoke-free policy for Boyd Gaming properties.”

The boards of the three publicly traded companies have recommended to shareholders that they vote against the submissions to initiate a review of smoking’s effect on business.

Boyd will hold its 2024 annual meeting on May 9. Bally’s will hold its annual meeting on May 16. Caesars has not yet scheduled its annual gathering.

Odds Long

The odds are presumably long that either of the three shareholder submissions will be taken up. Of the 682 shareholder proposals made between January and May 2023 with Russell 3000 companies, just 8% gained majority support and were adopted.

But pressed Wednesday on his weekly radio program if he might take a more proactive approach and ask the legislature to get him a smoking ban measure, the governor said it’s a complicated topic.

There are legitimate concerns about the commercial viability of Atlantic City,” Murphy said in favor of allowing state lawmakers to work with the casino industry and smoking opponents to find a resolution. ?

United Auto Workers (UAW), which represents table game dealers in Atlantic City, filed a lawsuit against New Jersey last week challenging the state’s 2006 Smoke-Free Air Act that allows casinos to designate 25% of their gaming floor for smoking.

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Unite Here Local 54 and the United Auto Workers (UAW) are the two leading unions representing an array of workers at the nine casinos down the New Jersey shore.

Unite Here represents nongaming workers like bartenders and waitstaff, kitchen employees, bellmen, and housekeepers. UAW in Atlantic City represents table game dealers, slot attendants and technicians, casino hosts, cage cashiers, simulcast employees, and keno operators.

Unite Here leaders say they’re not pro-smoking but believe a complete indoor smoking ban would hurt the local gaming industry which is already struggling in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.?

Contrasting Opinions?

Unite Here Local 54 President Donna DiCaprio says now isn’t the time for New Jersey lawmakers to terminate the casino smoking loophole included in the state’s 2006 Smoke-Free Air Act. DiCaprio is of the same impression as the Casino Association of New Jersey, the trade group that represents the interests of the nine resorts in Trenton, in thinking that a smoking ban would keep some gamblers away and lead to citywide layoffs.

DiCaprio is supporting legislative efforts to amend casino smoking regulations. One idea is only allowing smoking inside enclosed gaming rooms. The proposed legislation would mandate that casinos not force employees to work in the smoke-filled chambers.

We think that the current arrangement can and should be improved, but a total smoking ban is just not the answer,” “DiCaprio told CBS Philadelphia.

UAW President Shawn Fain disagrees. He says casino workers should be afforded the same clean air that nearly all other workers in New Jersey receive.

Every worker deserves a safe and health workplace,” Fain said. “It’s a basic human right. Atlantic City casinos are forcing workers to gamble with their health and their futures.”

Fain’s UAW is helping pay for a lawsuit against the state on grounds that the 2006 smoking law violates casino workers’ rights. The litigation seeks a state judge to rescind the casino smoking carveout. ?

Industry Health

The casino lobby in New Jersey continues to stress that it’s on life support. Casino executives and industry representatives cite an array of reasons as to why, such as inflation, a tight job market, increased labor costs, and encroaching competition.

Data from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, however, doesn’t necessarily back up the claim.

As Casino.org reported this week, Atlantic City casinos made less money last year than they did in 2022. Six of the nine casinos reported gross operating profit declines, though all nine remained in the black.

The profit gains have come from the market leaders Borgata, Hard Rock, Ocean, and Tropicana. 2023 profits were lower compared with 2019 for the five other casinos, Bally’s, Caesars, Golden Nugget, Harrah’s, and Resorts.

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Atlantic City’s brick-and-mortar gross gaming revenue (GGR) in January and February was below the same months in 2023. Resort traffic also dwindled during the first two months of the year.

With in-person visitation and gaming revenue possibly slowing in Atlantic City, Giannantonio reasons now isn’t the time to enact a smoking ban.

This is not the time to enact laws, such as a full smoking ban, that will further erode customer visitation and revenues to our properties,” Giannantonio told the Press of Atlantic City.

“It is time for the City of Atlantic City and the State of New Jersey, in its oversight capacity over the city, to address the issues that are preventing economic growth and develop solutions that will increase visitation to Atlantic City,” added Giannantonio, who also heads up Resorts.

Workers File Lawsuit

CEASE, Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects, filed a lawsuit in New Jersey’s Superior Court on Friday. The lawsuit names Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and the state’s Health Commissioner Kaitlan Baston as defendants.

Legislation last year appeared to have the necessary support in the New Jersey Legislature to force the casinos to go smoke-free. But some lawmakers flip-flopped their positions after hearing from the casino lobby, which Giannantonio leads, that such a ban would devastate the Atlantic City gaming industry.

It’s disgusting to sacrifice workers’ health because of some backroom politics where they don’t even have to explain themselves,” CEASE attorney Nancy Smith told The New York Times.

CEASE began as a grassroots coalition in Atlantic City. The organization has since expanded with chapters in other states where casino smoking remains, including Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Kansas, and Virginia.

Ban Could Cost Jobs?

DeCaprio represents about 10K Atlantic City casino workers, but those union members don’t include table game dealers and slot attendants.

DeCaprio shares Giannantonio’s position that a smoking ban would damage casino revenue and lead to job cuts.

“As lawmakers continue to proceed with the annual state budget process, representatives in the New Jersey Legislature must understand the perilous economic situation at hand for my members, and indeed all workers in Atlantic City,” DeCaprio said. “Not only is the overall in-person revenue troubling — but the size of the declines at some of the individual properties portends some serious instability for thousands of workers. The legislators need to take this into consideration as they consider policies that could compound the downward trends.”

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Senate Bill 2651 was introduced this week in the Trenton state capital by Sen. John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester). The statute is co-sponsored by two Republicans and two additional Democrats.

SB 2651 would revise New Jersey’s 2006 Smoke-Free Air Act and change the casino smoking permittance of indoor cigarettes and cigars. The statute currently lets slot licensees designate up to 25% of their gaming floor space for tobacco consumption.

The casinos would also be allowed to develop fully enclosed interior designated smoking rooms, but only slot machines — no table games — would be allowed in such environments. The measure also proposes that casinos cannot force an employee to work in the enclosed smoking chambers. The rooms must also have separate ventilation systems from the main casino floor.

CEASE Not Happy

“Casino Employees Against Smoke Effects (CEASE),” the grassroots group of casino workers formed in Atlantic City that has since expanded with chapters in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Kansas, and Virginia, is fighting for a clean-air workplace. CEASE members quickly dismissed Burzichelli’s bill as appeasing “Big Tobacco” and the multibillion-dollar companies that run the resorts.

This bill would retain the same level of smoking as is currently permitted and will not decrease in any way the amount of exposure workers have to secondhand smoke,” a CEASE statement read. The group said the legislation reads as “Big Tobacco and casino industry talking points, copied and pasted.”

The American Cancer Society also scolded the measure as inadequate.

“Since the 1980s, we’ve known that secondhand smoke can cause cancer, along with a host of other devastating health effects like heart disease,” the ACS said. “Yet despite the crystal-clear proof that exposure to secondhand smoke is bad and that smoke-free laws work, lawmakers continue to force Atlantic City workers to choose between their paycheck and breathing in secondhand smoke.”

Industry Arguments

The trade group representing the nine casinos, the Casino Association of New Jersey, argues a full smoking ban would result in reduced gaming and lead to massive job layoffs. There are also concerns that at least one casino resort would close, which would impact jobs away from the casino.

Casino smoking remains permissible at most Pennsylvania casinos. Burzichelli says his bill is a compromise that should appease both sides of the matter.

It’s about what we can do to keep casinos open,” the longtime state lawmaker who has held a seat in the legislature since 2002.

SB 2651 has been directed to the Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee. It’s the same committee that last month approved Senate Bill 1493, which seeks to fully extinguish indoor casino smoking.

The post Atlantic City Casino Smoking Bill Will Distance Smokers From Workers appeared first on Casino.org.

House Bill 2622 was introduced this week by Reps. Owen Donohoe (R-Shawnee), David Buehler (R-Lansing), Sydney Carlin (D-Manhattan), Ford Carr (D-Wichita), and Dennis Highberger (D-Lawrence). The legislation seeks to amend the Kansas Indoor Clean Air Act, passed in 2010.

The state tobacco statute prohibits indoor smoking in most workplaces, including offices, restaurants and bars, and common areas of apartment buildings. The law, however, provided an exemption for the state’s four commercial casinos.

HB 2622 would force the four casinos to eradicate indoor smoking from their gaming spaces.

Casino Workers Delight

CEASE, Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects, is a grassroots coalition of casino workers that originated in Atlantic City. The organization was formed after New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) allowed indoor casino smoking to return to the nine casinos in Atlantic City in July 2021. That’s after ordering them to go smoke-free amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

CEASE has since expanded to other states where casino smoking remains. CEASE has chapters in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Kansas. The CEASE chapter in Kansas celebrated the introduction of HB 2622.

For too long, casino workers like myself have had to endure the hazardous conditions of secondhand smoke all in the name of a paycheck,” said Joe Hafley, the Kansas CEASE Kansas leader who works as a security officer at Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway. “It’s not just about the cards, slots, and profits — this bill is a beacon of hope for the hardworking people in our industry, signaling that our health and well-being matter.”

Hafley added that casino workers shouldn’t “have to choose between our health and a paycheck,” a slogan that’s been frequently used by CEASE members.

Legislation Pushback

HB 2622 has been referred to the House Committee on Health and Human Services for initial review. The legislation proposes striking language from the Indoor Clean Act. The bill would erase the exemption for a “gaming floor of a lottery gaming facility or racetrack gaming facility.”

The casinos will presumably fight against the bill. Gaming interests continue to argue that indoor smoking is critical to the health of their slot and table game operations. Requiring a smoker to go outside interrupts their play and is believed to cause some smokers to end their casino visits when the urge to light up comes.

Kansas’ Department of Health and Environment says smoking rates are higher among poor and low-income households. Nearly 31% of adults earning less than $25K per year smoke, and 20% of those making $25K to $50K smoke. Less than 13% of those earning over $50K regularly light up.

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Senate Bill 1493 seeks to amend New Jersey’s 2006 Smoke-Free Air Act to close the tobacco exemption afforded to casinos in Atlantic City. The legislation was passed via party lines Monday in the Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee.

S1493 comes from state Sen. Joe Vitale (D-Middlesex), who has been trying to make the nine casinos down the shore go smoke-free for years. The legislation is his reintroduced casino smoking bill that was numbered Senate Bill 264 last year.

Turner is a primary cosponsor of S1493 and has championed efforts to extinguish casino smoking in previous legislative sessions. Turner and Zwicker sat in on the committee for Sens. Troy Singleton (D-Moorestown) and Angela McKnight (D-Jersey City).

Two committee Republicans, Sens. Owen Henry (R-Old Bridge) and Holly Schepisi (R-Westwood), refrained from voting. Sen. Robert Singer (R-Lakewood) voted in the minority.

Casino Smoking Milestone

Efforts to end casino smoking in Atlantic City have lingered in the Trenton capital for many years. It’s been more than 18 years since most workers in New Jersey gained the legal right to work in an environment free of toxic secondhand smoke.

Members of Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE) say they cannot wait any longer. The grassroots coalition that started in New Jersey has rallied support for smoke-free casinos in Atlantic City. The group has since expanded, with chapters in Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Kansas, and Virginia, where casino smoking also persists.

CEASE hailed Monday’s committee vote.

We thank the committee for voting to pass legislation that will immediately improve our workplace conditions and fully protect thousands of frontline casino workers from the dangers of secondhand smoke,” a statement provided to Casino.org read.

“Today is a great day in our fight for a healthier workplace, and we won’t stop fighting for this legislation until we can finally breathe smoke-free air at work. We urge lawmakers to pass this bill when it comes to the Senate floor, because no one should be forced to choose between their health and a paycheck,” the release continued.

S1493 has been directed to the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee, where it’s set for further consideration.

Jobs vs. Health

The crux of the legislative debate about Atlantic City casino smoking boils down to determining if a tobacco ban would result in the nine casinos winning less money on their gaming floors. Two studies on the issue reached different conclusions.

The Casino Association of New Jersey commissioned Spectrum Gaming, one of the most respected research firms in the U.S. gaming industry, to analyze the impact of a smoking ban.

In a contrasting study, C3 Gaming formed only in 2021, wrote in a 2022 research brief titled? “Evaluation of Post-Pandemic Non-Smoking Trends in U.S. Casinos” that the allowance of indoor smoking is no longer critical to gaming revenue health.

C3 researchers countered claims made by Atlantic City casino execs that suggested gamblers who like to smoke would take their business to nearby Philadelphia. That’s where several casinos continue to allow indoor cigarette and cigar smoking.

Should the New Jersey Legislature close the smoking loophole and prohibit smoking in Atlantic City casinos, gamblers from New York, New Jersey, and Eastern Pennsylvania will have only four options if they want to gamble in a smoking environment and none of them offers the same gaming/entertainment experience as Atlantic City,” the C3 report declared.

The C3 conclusion references indoor smoking remaining at Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia, Harrah’s Philadelphia, Rivers Casino Philadelphia, and Valley Forge Casino Resort.

Wind Creek Bethlehem, about an hour north of Philly, also allows indoor smoking. Parx Casino Philadelphia, however, which is the richest casino in the state, does not.

Ideas floated include fully enclosed smoking rooms where slot machines and a few table games would operate. The casinos have assured lawmakers that only volunteer employees would work in such environments.

CEASE members aren’t buying it.

“Sen. Polistina should not introduce his so-called ‘compromise’ bill that will only compromise the health of Atlantic City workers,” CEASE wrote. “Only a couple of weeks ago, he told workers that [S1493] did not have the votes to get out of this committee. But here we are celebrating this milestone. The train is leaving the station and it’s time for him to get on board or get out of the way.”

The post Atlantic City Casino Smoking Cessation Legislation Gains Support appeared first on Casino.org.

Members of CEASE, Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects, and table game dealers represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union went to New Jersey Sen. Vince Polistina’s (R-Atlantic) office in Egg Harbor Township. The casino smoking opponents voiced their displeasure with Polistina agreeing to give the casinos time to develop possible compromises, with one early idea being fully enclosed smoking rooms.

CEASE says that’s a bunch of garbage.

“You want to build smoking rooms to be staffed by volunteers. We are going to be ‘voluntold’ to go in,” said Pete Naccarelli, a 27-year table game dealer at the Borgata who heads the Atlantic City CEASE chapter. Naccarelli’s comments inside the state senator’s office were first reported by the Press of Atlantic City.

CEASE members told the state senator that casinos have put a pregnant woman and a co-worker battling cancer at smoking tables.

Senator Defends Position

Polistina initially supported state legislation to force the nine casinos in Atlantic City to require smokers to go outside to light up. He attended CEASE rallies in the past and was seemingly one of the grassroots coalition’s strongest allies.

I was with you from the start, stood with you at the rallies, stood with you in Trenton,” Polistina said. “I agree with the fact that we should not have smoking in any indoor facility anywhere in the state of New Jersey.”

Polistina blamed politics for his change of heart. He said the South Jersey Democratic delegation lost seats during the recent election and the odds of implementing a full smoking ban lengthened.

“The casinos believe they can meet our goal of eliminating employee and patron exposure to secondhand smoke with a structured plan and additional capital investment into their properties over the next couple of years,” Polistina said last month. “Given that their concerns about potential job losses and closures have resonated with some lawmakers, this is the direction I believe we need to go so that we don’t lose momentum on this issue.”

Union Also to Blame, Says Senator

While the UAW supports a smoking ban, as their casino members are frontline workers who deal cards, Unite Here Local 54 does not.

Local 54 has sided with the casinos in thinking a smoking ban would relocate smokers to casinos in Philadelphia, where state law permits smoking on up to half of the gaming floors. Harrah’s, Live!, and Rivers continue to allow casino smoking, while Parx Casino is smoke-free. Parx was the top-grossing casino in Pennsylvania’s 17-casino market in 2023.

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The New Jersey Legislature convened for the 2024 session?on Tuesday. The lawmaking schedule runs through the end of the year.

CEASE, Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects, says it’s long overdue that casino workers are afforded a safe place to work free of secondhand smoke.

We cannot wait any longer,” CEASE said in a statement to Casino.org. “We are stuck breathing secondhand smoke for hours at work every day. It’s unacceptable.”

CEASE claims many of its members have faced difficult health diagnoses, including lung cancer, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and asthma. Many of those workers blame their smoke-filled, toxic workplaces for the diseases.

Urgent Call to Action

CEASE is a grassroots organization that has since expanded to other states where casino smoking remains, including Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Kansas, and Virginia. CEASE recently formed a political action committee to support lawmakers supportive of their cause.

The PAC establishment followed last month’s disappointing outcome in the New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee. That inaction shocked CEASE by failing to advance legislation that would close the casino smoking carveout. Sen. Joe Vitale (D-Middlesex), the chair of the health committee who also authored Senate Bill 264 to remedy the casinos with clean indoor air, said several Republicans rescinded their support for the statute.

Some of those Republicans said they didn’t get into politics to take people’s livelihoods away. Some Democrats say continuing to allow indoor smoking might be taking their lives away.

Bill Reintroduced

As New Jersey lawmakers get to business in the new year, Vitale reintroduced his S264. The legislation for the 2024 session is numbered S1493.

Unlike last year’s statute, the legislation no longer has the adequate support needed by way of cosponsors to pass the Senate, should it reach a floor vote. S1493 currently has the support of 18 state Senators in the 40-member chamber.

The reduction in legislative support has CEASE angered and motivated for change.

We reject false, so-called compromises that continue to jeopardize our health. Philip Morris smoking rooms are a joke, as is the idea of ‘voluntary’ shifts that would fall to our most vulnerable colleagues,” the CEASE statement continued.

“Ventilation experts have made clear no current or forthcoming filtration systems can keep us safe from secondhand smoke — our lungs are the ventilation systems. Protecting our health and protecting the economic well-being of Atlantic City casinos go hand-in-hand — a healthy, happy workforce will allow the casinos to thrive,” the statement read.

CEASE claims about three in four gamblers say they’d be more likely to visit Atlantic City casinos if they were free of smoke.

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Ruggerio believes smoke-free casinos would cost the state tax money, because many gamblers enjoy smoking. With iGaming slated to begin in April after state lawmakers and Gov. Dan McKee (D) this year approved a bill authorizing online slot machines and table games, Ruggerio says gamblers who dislike the smell of smoke can stay home.

If you have iGaming, you can stay home. You don’t have to go. If that [smoking] offends you, you can stay home and gamble,” Ruggerio said during an interview with the Boston Globe.

It isn’t the first time the Senate president expressed rather strong opposition to casino workers who desire a clean-air workplace. In June, Ruggerio said that the casino workers who are complaining about cigarette and cigar smoke “took those jobs knowing” that there was smoking.

“Now, all of a sudden, there’s a small group who feels that it’s not good for their health,” Ruggerio said. “Wear a mask. Work in an area where they don’t permit smoking. I think the adjustment has to be made, not legislatively, but between the workers and Bally’s.”

State Rep. Teresa Tanzi (D-Narragansett) says she’ll introduce legislation to ban casino smoking when the 2024 legislative session begins in January.

President Demands $15M for Smoking Ban

Ruggerio argues a smoking ban at Rhode Island’s two casinos would cost the state $15 million a year in reduced gaming taxes.

As I told the unions: give us the $15 million that we are going to lose. They haven’t ponied up yet. If they want to give us the revenue that we will lose as a result, I’ll stop smoking,” Ruggerio declared.

Ruggerio claims that many Rhode Island gamblers checked out Encore Boston Harbor, a $2.6 billion integrated resort from Wynn Resorts, when it opened in June 2019.

“They couldn’t smoke there, especially in the winter, so they came back here,” Ruggerio stated.

Massachusetts law prohibits casino smoking. Casino smoking is also no more at Connecticut’s two tribal casinos, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods. The Mohegan Tribe and Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation decided to keep their casinos smoke-free in the pandemic’s aftermath.

Rhode Island Smoking Law

Under the state’s 2004 Public Health and Workplace Safety Act, Rhode Island’s two commercial casinos can designate parts of their gaming floor for smoking. The spaces are to be “physically separated” from the nonsmoking area and be equipped with a separate ventilation system.

CEASE also has chapters in Pennsylvania and Kansas. To date, no CEASE group has helped champion changes to their state’s casino smoking laws.

It appeared New Jersey would hold a full Senate and Assembly vote on legislation to end Atlantic City casino smoking. That’s until several Republicans flip-flopped their support in committee. Those lawmakers now want to hear from the casinos with possible remedial solutions other than a complete smoking ban. The Atlantic City casino industry contends that a smoking ban would lead to a more than 2,000 jobs layoff.

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Greenwald has served in Trenton since 1996 and has held the position of majority leader in the Assembly for more than a decade. One of the most powerful lawmakers in New Jersey, Greenwald recently sided with the Atlantic City casino industry on considerations of requiring the nine gaming venues to go entirely smoke-free.

New reports suggest Greenwald has a financial incentive to back the casinos, which want to continue allowing indoor smoking in designated areas. Political finance records reveal that Greenwald has received more than $30K from groups tied to Big Tobacco.

He has, nonetheless, accepted the Big Tobacco money, and used it to help light a fire under his political campaigns. He added that his donors don’t get to form his policy positions, but said considering input from various sides is important in policy discussions.

Greenwald thinks there might be more appropriate solutions to the casino smoking matter, such as enclosed smoking rooms where slots would operate. In July, Greenwald was named the Legislator of the Year by the New Jersey Hospital Association.

Organization Demands Return of Tobacco Money

CEASE, Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects, is leading the grassroots effort to close the casino smoking loophole created through the state’s 2006 Smokefree Air Act. CEASE announced last week its intention to form a political action committee to fund candidates who support providing them with an indoor workplace free of toxic smoke.

CEASE told Casino.org on Monday evening that Greenwald should return the more than $30K he’s received from Philip Morris US/Altria and other tobacco-related lobbyists.

For months, Lou Greenwald has been the leading proponent of creating Philip Morris smoking rooms and ensuring workers like us must continue to put our lives at risk every day. Now we know at least one reason why — he’s been taking their campaign contributions,” opined Pete Naccarelli, CEASE co-founder and an Atlantic City table games dealer. “The majority leader should stop putting the interests of casinos and Big Tobacco over workers and ordinary people and give back this money right away.

“He may talk a good game about caring about us workers. But that talk is cheap when he’s parroting industry talking points and undermining life-saving legislation after taking their money. It’s time to put our lives first,” Naccarelli added.

Greenwald says he’s concerned a full smoking ban will devastate casino revenue and lead to industrywide layoffs. It’s a view shared by the casino executives.

Resorts President Mark Giannantonio, who heads up the Casino Association of New Jersey, said a smoking ban would “have a significant adverse effect” on Atlantic City and its primary economic engine.

“We look forward to continuing this dialogue as we move forward, to find a compromise that will address the concerns of our employees without jeopardizing jobs and benefits to some of our most vulnerable citizens,” Giannantonio said. “The casino industry will continue to work with stakeholders on a compromise that supports the betterment of the city, the tourism and gaming industries, and the collective interest of the entire Atlantic City workforce.”

Casinos Barred From Political Activity

State law in New Jersey prohibits casinos from directly making political contributions. But lobbyists and attorneys who work with the nine resorts can make donations to lawmakers supportive of policy matters impacting Atlantic City.

Greenwald says he has “zero relationship” with the casino industry. He believes any casino smoking change should protect not only casino workers’ health but also their jobs.

It’s really the perfect time to get in a room and hear one another,” Greenwald said of the casino smoking debate that’s expected to resume in the Trenton capital next year.

Sen. Mike Testa (R-Cumberland) agrees.

“I want to keep in mind the health of the employees and the health of the patrons. But Atlantic City is in fairly bad shape. I don’t want this to be the nail in the coffin for the casino industry.”

“We have committed people to die from smoke inhalation. It’s a terrible, horrible death. I know. I’m a funeral director,” Codey said.

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CEASE, Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects, tells Casino.org it plans to form a PAC. The news comes after state lawmakers in Trenton flip-flopped on supporting legislation to force the nine casinos in Atlantic City to go smoke-free.

Under the current law, the casinos can designate a quarter of their gaming floor for tobacco use. CEASE members say it’s long overdue that they’re afforded clean indoor workplaces like nearly all other workers in New Jersey.

The casinos say there are solutions other than a complete smoking ban. They’ve floated the idea of enclosed smoking rooms where slot machines would operate, and no employees unwilling to work in such areas would be required to do so.

Anti-Smoking PAC Formation

CEASE will formally register its PAC with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission in the coming weeks.

Transitioning from a grassroots coalition to a PAC will allow CEASE to raise funds and make political contributions to lawmakers and candidates supportive of their mission. Polistina likely won’t be getting any CEASE PAC money.

Vince Polistina has revealed himself to be untrustworthy. After coming to our first rally in August 2021 … speaking out on our behalf at every turn, he’s now copying and pasting casino executive talking points and attempting to present them as a credible solution. It’s shameful and disgusting,” said Pete Naccarelli, CEASE co-founder and an Atlantic City table games dealer.

“[Polistina] has now chosen to be a front for the casinos rather than a backstop for his constituents. Don’t be fooled. He isn’t sticking up for us to protect our health,” Naccarelli stated.

During this week’s New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee’s deliberation of Senate Bill 264, a measure that would end casino smoking, a CEASE advocate lit up a cigarette. He was escorted out of the State House, but not before giving the committee members a piece of his mind.

“We’re not allowed to smoke in here? We’re not allowed to smoke in your workplace?” the man asked. “But you can smoke in our workplace.”

Casino Smoking Future

State Sen. Joe Vitale (D-Middlesex) believes his S264 legislation will pass when a new state legislature is sworn in in January. Democrats, who appear more supportive of a smoking ban, will maintain their control of both chambers.

CEASE is hopeful a new Senate makeup will result in more support for clean air inside casinos.

We have built people power over the last two-and-a-half years with thousands of Atlantic City casino employees coming together to fight for our lives. We were all new to politics. But we’ve learned that pressure and accountability are critical, and we plan to use a new PAC to support those who support us — through thick and thin,” Naccarelli said.

“We are fighting for our lives and will battle on all fronts to pass this legislation to end indoor smoking at our workplaces,” Naccarelli concluded.

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Just a month ago, the odds seemed good that state lawmakers in Trenton would pass legislation to end the casinos’ indoor smoking loophole, created through the New Jersey Smokefree Air Act of 2006. Two identical pieces of legislation, Senate Bill 264 and Assembly Bill 2151, mustered enough support from cosponsors to pass the statutes.

Sen. Joe Vitale (D-Middlesex), who authored S264 and leads the Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee, where the bill was allocated for initial review, says he no longer has the votes needed to forward the statute to the full Senate floor.

“We’ll get there eventually,” Vitale said this week. “This will pass, and we’ll take it up in a new session with new members.”

Sen. Fred Madden (D-Gloucester) is one Democrat who switched his support. He said that while he respects putting people’s health first, he didn’t seek public office “to start taking people’s livelihoods away.”

Back to the Drawing Board?

Atlantic City casino execs say they’re still reeling from the pandemic. Despite increased brick-and-mortar gaming revenue — casino wins were up 13% in October from the same month in 2019- the resorts say higher overhead costs deeply cut into those revenue gains.

Sen. Vince Polistina (R-Atlantic) says it’s time to rework the casino smoking bills. Polistina, who represents Atlantic City and sits on the State Government Wagering, Tourism, and Historic Prevention Committee, believes there are solutions other than a complete smoking ban.

“The casinos believe they can meet our goal of eliminating employee and patron exposure to secondhand smoke with a structured plan and additional capital investment into their properties over the next couple of years,” Polistina said. “Given that their concerns about potential job loss and closures have resonated with some lawmakers, this is the direction I believe we need to go so that we don’t lose momentum on this issue.”

Current Law

Under New Jersey’s 2006 smoke-free air law, Atlantic City casinos can designate 25% of their gaming floor for indoor smoking.

The exemption applies only to casinos with at minimum 150 standalone slot machines, 10 table games, or some combination of the two, as approved by the state Casino Control Commission.

No ventilation requirements or distancing rules exist about the space separating the supposedly smoke-free sections from the smoking parts.

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The United Auto Workers (UAW) represents dealers at three casinos in town, Caesars, Bally’s, and Tropicana. A condition of those workers’ ongoing employment is being subjected to dangerous secondhand smoke.

Shawn Fain, the international president of the union, which is the 12th-largest labor organization in the United States, this week lent his backing to state efforts to end the Atlantic City casino smoking loophole.

Thousands of UAW members … are exposed on a daily basis to the toxic harms of secondhand smoking,” Fain wrote in submitted testimony to state lawmakers. “Patrons blow cigarette/tobacco smoke directly into their faces for eight hours, and due to the nature of their work, table dealers are unable to take their eyes away from the table, so they bear through the thick smoke that surrounds their workplace.”

Currently, smoking on Atlantic City floors is allowed in designated areas. Each casino is limited to allowing tobacco smoking on 25% of its gaming floor space.

Divisive Issue

Legislation to end the casino smoking allowance created through the New Jersey Smokefree Air Act passed in 2006 has been lingering in the State House since 2021. The current legislation, Senate Bill 264 and Assembly Bill 2151, was introduced in January 2022.

The identical statutes already have enough bipartisan support by way of cosponsors to move out of their respective chambers. Despite the widespread backing, the Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee failed to forward SB264 when it considered the measure on November 30.

The casinos have the support of Unite Here Local 54, the labor union that represents about 10K resort workers in Atlantic City. Unite Here doesn’t represent gaming workers as the UAW does, but instead supports waitstaff, bartenders, cooks, porters, and housekeepers.

Local 54 President Donna DeCaprio said in July that a casino smoking prohibition “would be a suicide pact.”

Grassroots Movement

Many casino workers, including those represented by UAW, say their careers are risking their health. The push to extinguish casino smoking has been led by a grassroots coalition called Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects, or CEASE.

We have been the only workers in our state forced to choose between our health and a paycheck. It’s been nearly two decades,” read a statement provided to Casino.org by CEASE.

Fain agrees.

“Workers should leave work in the same condition they arrived,” the UAW boss declared. “Union. Non-union. Factory, office, casino, or any workplace in between, worker safety must be the number one goal of every employer and worker throughout the state.”

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The Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee couldn’t rally enough votes to forward the bill to the full Senate floor. That’s despite widespread bipartisan support in each legislative chamber of the New Jersey Legislature for the casino smoking measure,

Vitale, who chairs the eight-member Senate Health Committee, said he was a vote shy of having a majority to pass the smoking statute. He apologized to the many casino workers who made the drive to the Trenton capital in hopes of seeing history made with the first vote in favor of amending the state’s smoking law since it was passed 17 years ago.

Casinos Encouraged to Participate

Sen. Fred Madden (D-Gloucester), the vice-chair of the committee, said there should be more consideration of floated solutions from the casinos before elected officials simply force a complete smoking ban. One such solution from the gaming industry is to create fully enclosed gaming rooms where smoking would be allowed.

The state casino lobby, known as the Casino Association of New Jersey (CANJ), represents the interests of the nine Atlantic City casinos in Trenton. CANJ-commissioned research on the economic impact of a complete smoking ban suggested that as many as 2,500 jobs would be lost because of reduced gaming play and revenue.

Madden said he didn’t seek public office “to start taking people’s livelihoods away,” but he conceded that it’s “important to put health first.”

Casino workers seeking a clean indoor air workplace say Madden isn’t valuing their health. A statement to Casino.org from members of Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE), the grassroots coalition pushing Senate Bill 264 and its Assembly counterpart, Assembly Bill 2151, said they aren’t willing to compromise.

We are continuing to have conversations with legislators to make clear the dangers of the ideas casinos are suggesting — such as Philip Morris smoking rooms in which workers would supposedly volunteer to work. It’s an absurd idea and every legislator should reject it. We won’t compromise our health. After all, we have been living with a compromise for the last 17 years when the casino smoking loophole was first created,” the CEASE statement read.

CANJ President Mark Giannantonio, who is president and CEO of Resorts, celebrated the committee’s decision and said it shows “people are beginning to realize the bill, as drafted, will have a significant adverse effect on Atlantic City’s economy.”

Smoking Prevalence Declines

Atlantic City’s gaming interests say a smoking ban would result in gamblers who smoke patronizing casinos in nearby Philadelphia, where indoor tobacco use remains.

In February, the federal health agency said in its report, “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Your Lungs,” that the only way to protect public health inside businesses is to fully prohibit smoking. The CDC found elevated levels of dangerous Particulate Matter (PM) in areas of casino floors that are supposedly smoke-free sections.

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The New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee on Thursday is scheduled to consider Senate Bill 264, an act that would eliminate the smoking ban exemption for casinos and simulcasting facilities.

The legislation was introduced in January 2022 by Sens. Joseph Vitale (D-Northern Middlesex) and Shirley Turner (D-Mercer).

Prohibiting indoor smoking in casinos and pari-mutuel wagering venues has widespread?bipartisan support in the Trenton capital. Even so, Democratic leadership reportedly mothballed the bill and an Assembly component measure for nearly two years until this month’s elections played out.

Smoking Considerations

With the election behind, Democrats are now apparently more willing to take on such a controversial matter as casino smoking. Casino executives down the shore have warned lawmakers that a smoking ban could result in the elimination of 2,500 jobs. Such a regulation would hurt their gaming business.

For casinos to qualify for indoor smoking privileges, they must house a minimum of 150 slot machines and 10 table games. Each of the nine casinos easily meets those minimums.

Vitale and Turner’s bill seeks to remove the casino and simulcast gaming loopholes from the smoking law.

“The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found that casino workers are at greater risk for lung and heart disease because of secondhand smoke, and a study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that the air in casinos can have up to 50 times more cancer-causing particles than the air on rush-hour highways,” Vitale and Turner said in their legislation.

“This bill would protect all workers in New Jersey from the hazards of secondhand smoke by requiring that casinos and casino simulcasting facilities be smoke-free workplaces,” they added.

Elections Decided

All 120 state Senate and Assembly seats were on the ballot for the November 7 general election. The Democrats have controlled both chambers of the legislature since 2004. But after losing seats during the 2021 election, party leadership was worried about losing further seats, or even a majority.

However, on Nov. 7, 2023, the Democrats not only retained control of both chambers, but expanded their stronghold. Democrats added five Assembly seats to their majority in the 80-seat lower chamber, and kept their 10-seat majority in the 40-seat Senate.

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The Pennsylvania House Health Committee yesterday made history by advancing a measure that seeks to close the indoor smoking loophole that was afforded to casinos in the 2008 bill. It marked the first time that a bill to amend the indoor casino smoking law has advanced out of a committee.

The House Health Committee is chaired by Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny), who for a second straight year has introduced a statute to make the state’s brick-and-mortar casinos go smoke-free. Frankel’s legislation — House Bill 1657 — would also remove indoor smoking privileges for private clubs and bars where alcohol accounts for the bulk of the revenue.

With committee approval of my bill today, we took a key step forward in the effort to protect Pennsylvania workers in casinos, bars, and clubs from secondhand smoke. It’s long past time we stopped forcing employees to choose between their jobs and their health,” Frankel said.

With the House Health Committee’s blessing, Frankel’s bill moves to the full House of Representatives where it will in the coming weeks receive full consideration.

Party Divide

The House Health Committee vote on Frankel’s smoking bill was split among party lines. The committee’s 14 Democrats all voted in favor of HB 1657. The committee’s 10 Republicans voted against it.

Casinos in Delaware, Maryland, and New York — Pennsylvania’s other border states — require their casinos to be smoke-free.

Of the 17 casinos in Pennsylvania, all but two have designated smoking areas on their gaming floors. The exceptions are Parx Casino north of Philadelphia in Bensalem and Parx Casino Shippensburg, its sister satellite casino.

Anti-smoking advocates say smoking bans don’t hurt gaming. Quite the contrary, they say, and they point to the fact that Parx Casino has continued to lead the state gaming industry in terms of brick-and-mortar revenue even after going smoke-free.

A 2022 study by Las Vegas-based C3 Gaming, a casino consultancy, found that smoking bans do not have adverse effects on gaming play.? ?

“Data from multiple jurisdictions clearly indicates that banning smoking no longer causes a dramatic drop in gaming revenue,” the C3 Gaming study summarized. “In fact, non-smoking properties appear to be performing better than their counterparts that continue to allow smoking.”

Odds Remain Long

Casino workers in the grassroots coalition CEASE — Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects — celebrated the historic committee passage of a bill to ban indoor casino smoking.

This is a great day in our fight for a healthier workplace and we won’t stop fighting for this legislation until we can finally breathe smoke-free air at work. We urge lawmakers to pass this bill when it comes to the House floor because no one should be forced to choose between their health and a paycheck,” commented Jen Rubolino, a table games dealer at Rivers Casino Pittsburgh and a co-leader of CEASE Pennsylvania.

The odds of Frankel’s bill passing and becoming law, however, presumably remain long. The Democrats hold the narrowest of majorities in the House with 102 of the 203 chamber seats. Republicans control the state Senate with 28 of the 50 seats.

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The House Health Committee fields legislation impacting public health. Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny) chairs the committee and, for the second consecutive year, has introduced a bill to the General Assembly that seeks to amend the Pennsylvania Clean Indoor Air Act.

Exemptions were also provided for cigar and tobacco shops, private clubs, and drinking establishments where food sales account for 20% or less of the bar’s gross sales.

Odds Good Smoking Bill Will Pass

Frankel’s measure to force the state’s 17 brick-and-mortar casinos to push their gamblers who smoke outside is favored to pass the Health Committee.

The longtime state representative said recently he’s quite confident in the legislation finding favor in the 25-member body. Frankel presumably wouldn’t be putting the smoking bill up for a vote if he wasn’t confident he had the votes to forward the measure.

We are on the path to creating strong legislation that protects our workers so they’re not put in the impossible position of choosing between their paycheck and their health,” Frankel said last month following a committee hearing on his bill.

HB 1657 would eliminate the smoking carveout not only for casinos but also for drinking establishments and private clubs. The bill doesn’t seek to extinguish the exemptions for cigar and tobacco lounges.

“Fifteen years ago, this commonwealth took an enormous step forward in ensuring that our workers are not forced to breathe in toxic smoke — it’s time to finish the job,” Frankel declared in September when he introduced the legislation.

Casino Opposition

Of the 17 land-based casinos open today in Pennsylvania, all but two permit indoor smoking. The exceptions are Parx Casino in Bensalem north of Philadelphia, and Parx Casino Shippensburg, a so-called “mini-casino” or satellite venue.

Parx made the decision to permanently prohibit indoor smoking during the pandemic. It certainly hasn’t hurt the company’s primary property, as the Bensalem casino generates more monthly gaming revenue than any other casino in the Commonwealth.

In September, the most recently reported month, Parx Casino won $31.5 million on its retail slots and $16 million on its tables for a combined haul of $47.5 million. Wind Creek Bethlehem was second at $43.5 million.

The casino industry continues to claim that smoking bans hurt gaming, as players are forced to take timeouts to go outside or to a designated area to smoke. During those timeouts, some players might decide to call it a day. Responsible gaming advocates say that’s a good thing.

Gaming industry veteran Richard Schuetz is a consultant who has advised states on best regulatory practices. He told Frankel’s Health Committee in September that smoking sections are the equivalent of “throwing out a welcome mat for problem gamblers.”

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In a development that will surely anger many Venetian and Palazzo dealers, the casinos beginning next Monday, Nov. 6, will allow table game players to light up. A statement from The Venetian Resort said guests seated at table games will be allowed to smoke cigarettes, cigars, and vapes. The use of marijuana remains prohibited, as it does inside any casino in Las Vegas.

As a company, we are always reviewing and improving our internal policies to remain competitive and strategic in our business decisions,” a release from The Venetian Resort read. “We have received continuous feedback regarding out smoking policy. This has prompted us to review and ultimately update the policy.”

The statement added that table game players who wish to gamble at a non-smoking table will be accommodated. A table games supervisor or floor manager can facilitate such requests, the announcement explained.

Casino.org’s Vital Vegas first broke the news regarding the table game smoking changes.

Smoking is only allowed on the casino floors and is otherwise prohibited everywhere else at The Venetian Resort. Smoking is also not allowed inside the resorts’ suites or outside on the pool decks.

F1 Arrival

The Venetian Resort is owned by Vici Properties, the real estate investment trust controlled by Caesars Entertainment. The resorts are operated by New York private equity giant Apollo Global Management.

Las Vegas Sands sold the properties last year to Vici and Apollo for $6.25 billion. Vici bought the properties for $4 billion, while Apollo secured the operating rights and former Sands staff for $2.25 billion.

Centrally located on the Strip, The Venetian and Palazzo — like every other major casino on S. Las Vegas Blvd. — are gearing up for this month’s Formula 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. The race is set for Sunday, Nov. 19.

The roughly 3.8-mile circuit includes a 1.18-mile straightway on the Las Vegas Strip where drivers are expected to reach speeds upwards of 200 mph.

It’s likely that The Venetian’s decision to return table game smoking is to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of visitors F1 is projected to bring to town this month.

Only Complete Bans Protect Health

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded earlier this year that the only way to guarantee safe air inside casinos is to fully prohibit indoor tobacco use. The federal public health agency investigated air quality levels in designated smoke-free areas of casinos and located elevated levels of dangerous Particulate Matter (PM).

The CDC found that even highly advanced air filtration systems “cannot eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke.”

While it might smell a bit better in a smoke-free area of a casino that has both smoking and non-smoking sections, health experts say the supposedly nonsmoking sections still present public health risks. The longer one spends in such environments increases the threat of developing secondhand smoke-related complications like coronary heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer.

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The Star-Ledger is the highest-circulation newspaper in New Jersey, and as such, its editorial board’s opinions carry some weight in the Trenton capital. Lawmakers are expected to take up casino smoking legislation that was mothballed in the legislature for more than three years.

The latest bills, Assembly Bill 2151 and Senate Bill 264, seek to force Atlantic City casinos to make their gaming floors entirely smoke-free. The state currently allows gaming facilities to designate up to 25% of their floors for indoor tobacco use.

Democrats have majority control of each chamber and hope to retain that power next month. Party leaders believe avoiding the controversial casino smoking issue until after the elections plays into their hands in winning on November 7.

Smoke Knows No Boundaries

AB2151 and SB264 already have enough support through cosponsors to move the measures to the other chamber, and theoretically, to Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D) desk. Murphy supports forcing the casinos to extinguish smoking, but he says he can’t do it singlehandedly.

The Star-Ledger Editorial Board wrote on Monday that the new Legislature makeup will likely back the anti-casino smoking bills.

A bipartisan bill that will ban smoking in New Jersey’s casinos will finally get a full vote in the Senate during the lame duck legislative session, and we know we can speak for every croupier, cashier, cocktail server, custodian, and pit clerk when we issue the following statement: Hallelujah,” the op-ed read.

Atlantic City casinos were provided an exemption to permit tobacco use on a quarter of their gaming floors through New Jersey’s Smoke-Free Air Act, passed in 2006. Some 17 years later, casino staff remains subject to harmful secondhand smoke.

“The only way to protect people from secondhand smoke exposure is to prohibit smoking in all indoor areas,” concluded Michael Tynan, the CDC Office on Smoking & Health policy team lead.

Long Overdue

New Jersey Sens. Joe Vitale (D-Woodbridge) and Shirley Turner (D-Ewing) are the primary sponsors of SB264.

Vitale is optimistic that the bill will pass after the election. But he concedes that the delay by his own party has further jeopardized health. Vitale says the dangers of secondhand smoke have been known for many years, but lawmakers haven’t acted.

In the time that has passed, many employees have become seriously ill, and some have died as a result of the secondhand smoke that pervades their workplace. Sadly, the industry couldn’t care less, and uses claims that falsely predict economic impact. Pathetic, but true,” Vitale said.

The Casino Association of New Jersey, the trade group representing the nine casinos in Trenton, commissioned a study last year that concluded a smoking ban would devastate the economy in Atlantic City. Third-party researchers concluded that gaming revenue would drop by about 11%, leading to as many as 2,500 job losses.

“There will be the predictable whining from industry noisemakers about how jobs and profits could be imperiled by the ban, which they say would inspire smokers to head out of state or switch to online gaming,” the Star-Ledger op-ed continued. “The problem is that no proof exists of such things happening in the other 22 other states (including New York and Delaware) that have stamped out the practice.

“The most recent study was conducted in July 2022 by Las Vegas-based C3 Gaming, which found that casinos that chose to go smoke-free actually raked in more profits. Conclusion: Most gamblers like to breathe,” the editorial concluded.

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Senate Bill 264 and Assembly Bill 2151 are identical pieces of legislation that seek to end the indoor smoking loophole. The exemption allows casinos and pari-mutuel facilities to designate up to 25% of their gaming floor space for tobacco smoking. That loophole was afforded to casinos and other gaming venues through New Jersey’s 2006 Smoke-Free Air Act.

The legislation has the support of 26 state senators and 54 assemblypersons, which represent majorities in each chamber. However, Democratic leadership has continuously stalled the bills.

Action Forthcoming

Reports surfaced this week that New Jersey Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) will take up SB264 once the November 7 elections are finished. Politico’s New Jersey reporter Daniel Han broke the news.

Next month, the statewide election in New Jersey will see all 40 Senate seats and all 80 Assembly seats on the ballot. Democrats hope to retain control of both chambers. They currently hold 25 Senate and 46 Assembly seats.

Adding a controversial issue like the cessation of casino smoking — something the leading union in Atlantic City and many of the casinos’ executives say will result in thousands of lost jobs because of reduced gaming revenue — propelled the Democratic leadership to delay the issue to the 2024 legislative session.

CEASE, Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects, has led the grassroots movement to extinguish indoor smoking in Atlantic City. The organization told Casino.org that while the delay further risked casino employees’ health, the reports that legislative action is imminent is welcomed.

We are encouraged by the news that the Senate plans to hold a vote on bipartisan legislation to end indoor smoking at our workplaces later this year,” a CEASE statement read. “For more than 17 years, we have been the only workers in New Jersey forced to choose between our health and a paycheck. Continuing to compromise our health in any way is unacceptable, and we are gratified that the bill sponsors have said that they will reject any attempts to water this legislation down, period.”

Those watering down attempts will presumably come from the casino interests, which in Atlantic City are represented by the Casino Association of New Jersey.

Casino Opposition

The Casino Association of New Jersey and Unite Here Local 54, the labor union that represents some 10K nongaming resort workers in town, oppose a smoking ban.

The casino association said that could result in as many as 2,500 job losses. With most casinos in nearby Philadelphia continuing to allow indoor smoking, New Jersey’s gaming interests believe smokers will take their business there.

It’s worth noting that Parx Casino just outside Philadelphia is fully smoke-free, and Parx is the dominant player among Pennsylvania’s 17 brick-and-mortar casinos.

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The North Carolina General Assembly continues to labor on a budget bill, and reports out of the Raleigh capital suggest a casino measure proposed as a tacked-on component is one reason for the budget standstill. Senate leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) is spearheading the casino effort in what he says is a ploy to keep gaming money from flowing north into Virginia where commercial casinos are opening.

Berger wants to allow a single casino resort in Rockingham, Anson, and Nash counties. The gaming measure reportedly also protects the eastern portion of the Tar Heel State for a possible tribal casino for the Lumbee Tribe should its efforts to gain federal recognition succeed.

Local officials in the three counties say they’re not being included in the state gaming discussions. Many residents and county officials have made public comments criticizing Berger and his allies for trying to push casino gambling on communities that might not want Las Vegas-style resorts in their backyards.

No Smoking Petition

ANR President Cynthia Hallett’s letter to Berger and Moore highlights the dangers employees face working in an indoor environment where smoking is allowed, or partially allowed. Hallett says the only way to assure the health and safety of workers and patrons inside casinos is to fully prohibit indoor smoking.

Hallett cautioned the Assembly about the casino lobby raising allegations that a complete indoor smoking ban would negatively impact revenue and subsequent tax revenue. She also points to the fact that North Carolina’s three tribal casinos, Harrah’s Cherokee, Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River, and Catawba Two Kings Casino, are already smoke-free.

Old arguments in favor of keeping indoor smoking are outdated,” Hallett said. “You have the opportunity to create a modern commercial casino industry. We urge you to seize this chance to set up future casinos for success by reaching a wider customer base and protecting the health of all North Carolinians.”

ANR supports a grassroots coalition of casino workers who seek smoke-free workplaces called “Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects,” or CEASE.

“These worker advocates have testified before legislators, sharing harrowing stories of pregnant women being forced to work surrounded by high-roller cigar smokers, and some who have developed cancer after a lifelong career in the casinos. In places like Atlantic City and elsewhere, casinos have been struggling to hire table games dealers in part because workers do not want to jeopardize their health by working hours on end in a smoke-filled casino,” Hallett added.

Commercial Casino Smoking By State

Twenty-seven states permit commercial casinos or racinos. Of those, only 10 states fully prohibit indoor smoke on the game floors.

Fully smoke-free gaming states are Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, and South Dakota. Virginia’s commercial casinos are allowed to permit smoking anywhere on the gaming floor.

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