{"id":1653,"date":"2024-05-23T13:49:04","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T13:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/?p=1653"},"modified":"2024-05-30T13:37:06","modified_gmt":"2024-05-30T13:37:06","slug":"bill-to-outlaw-casino-smoking-in-rhode-island-faces-long-odds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/2024\/05\/23\/bill-to-outlaw-casino-smoking-in-rhode-island-faces-long-odds\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill to Outlaw Casino Smoking in Rhode Island Faces Long Odds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rhode Island lawmakers earlier this month shelved legislation that would force the state\u2019s two brick-and-mortar casinos to go smoke-free. As the legislative session approaches its summer conclusion, the odds of the two measures passing seemingly lengthen.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Rhode
A woman smokes a cigarette while playing a slot machine at Bally\u2019s Twin River Lincoln. State legislative efforts to force casinos in Rhode Island to go smoke-free appear dead in 2024. (Image: The Providence Journal<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

House Bill 7500 was introduced in February. The statute would repeal the indoor smoking provisions provided to Bally\u2019s Twin River Lincoln and Bally\u2019s Tiverton through the state\u2019s Public Health and Workplace Safety Act passed in 2004.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The partisan measure, backed by 10 Democrats but zero Republicans, received consideration earlier this month in the House Finance Committee. The committee heard from casino workers who say the state\u2019s ongoing allowance of indoor smoking threatens their health and argue they deserve the same workplace protections as nearly all other industries.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Bally\u2019s reps argued a smoking ban would hurt their operations and, subsequently, the state by reducing gaming income. The Bally\u2019s casinos run slot-like video lottery terminals<\/a> (VLTs) on behalf of the Rhode Island Lottery. The state receives about 60% of the VLT revenue.<\/span><\/p>\n

Casino Smoking Bills Mothballed<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

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 \u201crecommended the measure be held for further study.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rhode Island\u2019s two casinos can designate as much of their gaming floors for smoking as they wish. However, nonsmoking sections are to be \u201cphysically separated\u201d from smoking areas and equipped with separate ventilation systems.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Bally\u2019s Twin River Lincoln Vice President Craig Sculo told the House Finance Committee that smoking bans aren\u2019t good for a casino\u2019s business. Sculo said the Bally\u2019s casinos offer employees options to work in smoke-free areas and just this month added a second nonsmoking gaming space<\/a> at the Lincoln resort that complements the smoke-free second-floor casino.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lawmakers behind the push to extinguish smoking say secondhand smoke<\/a> doesn\u2019t abide by smoking section rules and permeates much of the workplace.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Imagine what it\u2019s like, night after night, going home with cigarette smell in your hair, having to shower before you even got into bed,\u201d said state Rep. Teresa Tanzi (D-South Kingstown), a former smoker and lead sponsor of HB 7500. \u201cEvery single night, throwing your clothes in the laundry every single night because of the stench of smoking.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Tanzi doesn\u2019t buy what Bally\u2019s is selling in claiming a smoking ban<\/a> would hurt business. She said many restaurants and bars argued the same before the state\u2019s 2004 smoking law went into effect.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe sky has not fallen, and we are all better off as a result,\u201d Tanzi said. \u201cI\u2019m optimistic this would make things better for casino workers and the bottom line of the state budget.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Time Ticking<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Bally\u2019s shareholders recently voted down a proposal<\/a> raised by an investor to study the financial implications of making the company\u2019s casinos smoke-free.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The results of the vote haven\u2019t 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\u2019s 2025 annual meeting.<\/span><\/p>\n

The post Bill to Outlaw Casino Smoking in Rhode Island Faces Long Odds<\/a> appeared first on Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rhode Island lawmakers earlier this month shelved legislation that would force the state\u2019s two brick-and-mortar casinos to go smoke-free. As the legislative session approaches its summer conclusion, the odds of the two measures passing seemingly lengthen. A woman smokes a cigarette while playing a slot machine at Bally\u2019s Twin River Lincoln. State legislative efforts to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1653"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1653"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1656,"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1653\/revisions\/1656"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}