State Senate President Nicholas Scutari told Politico last week he would bring the bill, S264, to ban smoking entirely in New Jersey casinos to the floor for a full vote of the Senate.
The vote would take place during the lame-duck session following the November election in which every member of the state legislature is up for re-election, before the new legislature takes office in January. Since there are 26 sponsors of the bill out of 40 Senate seats, the bill should pass easily.
While there is no indication that the Assembly will vote from Speaker Craig Coughlin, 57 of the 80 Assembly members are also co-sponsors of the bill, should that vote happen, it will also pass. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has repeatedly said he would sign the bill if it reaches his desk.
In addition to all the sponsors in the legislature, the bill has been endorsed by several powerful groups, including the City Council of Atlantic City and the United Auto Workers (UAW), which has unionized dealers in several Atlantic City casinos.
Opponents include the Casino Association of New Jersey, which estimates 25 percent to 30 percent of in-person gambling will be lost if the bill is approved. Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small, the chambers of commerce from Atlantic City and South Jersey, and UNITE HERE Local 54, which represents all the hotel and restaurant workers in the city, also oppose the bill.
While smoking is only allowed on up to 25 percent of the casino floors of Atlantic City properties, that restriction is routinely ignored by patrons and staff of the casinos. Following the pandemic, smoking was banned for nearly a year, but it was permitted to resume on July 4, 2021. That triggered anger from many casino employees and spurred the formation of CEASE (Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects), a movement that has spread beyond Atlantic City to all states that still permit casino smoking.
The group issued a statement following the report on the vote: “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 – and to pass the bill as is, without considering last-minute amendments from casino lobbyists. 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. We thank all of the legislators who have steadfastly supported this legislation, and we urge the Assembly to also hold a vote during the lame-duck session.”
