State legislators in New Jersey are ramping up an effort to put a stamp on a bill to include gambling halls in a widespread ban on smoking in all public buildings—which has been in force for 16 years.
The measure, S264, has gained steam from 15 new legislators signing on as sponsors, with a total of now 35 lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in New Jersey in the recent push.
New Jersey state Senator Joseph Vitale, chairman of the Senate’s health committee and the bill’s main sponsor, told the NJ Advance Media that this is the most support this type of bill has “seen over the years.”
The recent support also includes three freshman Republican lawmakers that represent Atlantic City.
Vitale sees the ban as a hardship on the workforce in gaming properties.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Vitale said. “How does anyone require people to work in an environment that can give you cancer or emphysema or heart disease? It’s nonsensical we haven’t changed this.”
The recent move is an effort to close a loophole that allows casinos to permit smoking on 25% of their floors in New Jersey. The initial move occurred in 2006 when the state moved to ban smoking inside bars and restaurants, along with other public places.
The effort has support from a coalition of casino workers and anti-smoking advocates who are looking to reduce the dangers of second-hand smoke for employees.
On the opposite side, casinos worry about losing gamblers to neighboring states Pennsylvania and Connecticut. The casino industry sees the potential for the move to cut into profits and threatening thousands of jobs in the state.
A report commissioned by the Casino Association round that banning smoking could cost 11 percent of casino revenues in the state and would being a loss of 2,500 jobs, NJ Advance Media reports. The research, which found that 21 percent of the gamblers in Atlantic City are smokers, was conducted by Spectrum Gaming, an independent gambling research firm.
Those fears of economic loss may be somewhat quelled by recent action in the region, as Pennsylvania lawmakers also bring in their own push to eliminate smoking in casinos. That effort is being led by two state lawmakers in a move that would close a loophole for casinos and private clubs in the state’s Clean indoor Air Act that passed in 2008.
Both statehouses would need to pass the legislation in their respective chambers and have the governor from each state sign the proposed bills into law.
