Atlantic Casino Smoking Opponents Light Up 2022 Campaign
2022 is nearly a month in, and Atlantic City cassino smoking opponents are growing progressively impatient with New island of Jersey province lawmakers who carry on to show minuscule enthusiasm inward extinguishing tobacco smoking on gaming floors.
New island of Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and elected politicians inward capital of New Jersey of late signed off on II measures that do good the ennead casinos in Atlantic City past way of reduced taxes. But when it comes to lawmaking benefitting the wellness of casino workers and patrons, anti-smoking advocates say the tell has been all smoke and mirrors.
Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE) cofounder Pete Naccarelli is a tabular array mettlesome dealer at MGM Resorts’ Borgata. The Marina District gambling casino is 1 of many that takes vantage of existence permitted to denominate upward to 25 percent of its gaming space for smoking.
You wouldn’t translate the intuitive feeling you get under one's skin when being on a spunky and someone walks upwards and you regard them get a cigaret inward their hand,” Naccarelli said inward a recent CEASE statement. “You’re just begging, ‘Please don’t sit down at my game.'”
Bipartisan Bill Introduced
A bipartizan chemical group of New Jersey lawmakers has already introduced statute law inwards 2022 that seeks to oddment the plum indoor aura loophole afforded to Atlantic Ocean City casinos.
Senate Bill 264 would do away with the smoking forbiddance freedom for both casinos and simulcasting facilities. The peak would defend the indoor smoking exemption for cigar lounges.
The statute would effectively amend the New island of Jersey Smoke-Free Air Act, which went into burden on April 15, 2006.
The casinos contend that eliminating their indoor smoking supplying would wound their COVID-19 recovery. Casinos in the nearby Philadelphia realm are permitted to designate as often as 50 percent of their gaming space for smoking.
Hard John Rock Atlantic Ocean City President Joe Lupo, who is also the chair of the Casino Association of New Jersey, says casinos cater to both smokers and nonsmokers. He points to the fact that indoor smoking is limited to the specific surface area of the casino floor, and that all other public spaces interior the resorts are full smoke-free.
Banning smoking completely and permanently would experience long-term financial implications for the industry and the region, placing Atlantic Ocean City casinos at a private-enterprise(a) disadvantage with Keystone State casinos,” Lupo opined.
Lupo added that a good smoking banning would ensue inwards job losses, tax revenue declines, and economical hardship on workers who perform remain past right smart of fewer tips due to rock-bottom customer volume.
2021 was a book yr for the entireness of the New Jersey gaming industry. But for Atlantic Ocean City’s brick-and-mortar operations, receipts gaming revenue finally twelvemonth remained almost Phoebe percent below pre-pandemic 2019 market conditions.
Advocates Pressure Murphy
Murphy narrowly avoided being overthrow during the November election. The Democratic governor was sworn into his sec term lowest week.
With the regulator officially inward for another iv years, the anti-smoking crowd together states that some of their Murphy votes were only if due to the governor repeatedly declaring in 2021 that he’s supportive of banning gambling casino smoke.
“Now that he’s officially begun his new term, it’s clip for him to military press the pillowcase to legislators to acquire this done. Every daytime that goes by is another solar day we danger our wellness at work,” said CEASE cofounder Lamont White.