House panel backs smoke-free casino bill, fanning the flames of hope for next year

A supporter of banning smoking inside Rhode Island's casinos exits the State House basement on June 13, 2024. The House Committee on Finance that day gave their approval to a bill that seeks to clear the air inside of Bally’s casinos in Lincoln and Tiverton. (Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)

A push by progressive lawmakers to end the exemption from the state’s indoor smoking ban at Rhode Island’s two casinos briefly reignited at the start of the last night of the 2024 legislative session.

That has sparked hope among public health advocates and casino workers that the momentum to make Bally’s Twin River Lincoln and Bally’s Tiverton Casino and Hotel smoke-free will continue next year.

The House Committee on Finance at a last-minute meeting on Thursday afternoon voted 10-0 in favor of a bill by Rep. Teresa Tanzi, a South Kingstown Democrat, who has tried unsuccessfully for the past few years to clear the air inside the two casinos. Before the final day of the session began, many had thought Tanzi’s bill had stalled in committee, as has been the case since 2021.

Tanzi acknowledged that the end of session committee vote was largely symbolic.

“It was really a signal more than anything,” she told Rhode Island Current. “It shows we’re fully aware of everything workers have been saying.”

The House did not bring Tanzi’s bill to the floor for a full vote. Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi said in a statement Wednesday there was not enough time for both chambers to consider the legislation before session ends.

“This is an important issue that we were unable to resolve this legislative session, but I wanted to vote this year to continue the discussion and momentum going forward,” he said. “I encourage Bally’s workers and management to continue to discuss this, and I am hopeful they will be able to work out a resolution before we return in January.”

That Shekarchi took any position on the matter came as a shock to Table Game Dealers Laborers Local 711 President Matt Dunham, whose union has long petitioned state leaders to ban smoking.

“I’ve always taken him as sort of a middle of the road type of guy that didn’t want to upset anybody,” he said Thursday. “This really just dropped out of the sky.”

Companion legislation by Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski, a South Kingstown Democrat, did not get the same treatment from the Senate Committee on Finance, where it was held for further study May 14.

Should the Providence-based casino giant be unable to reach a new deal with union leaders, Tanzi said she planned to re-submit her smoking ban bill next January at the start of the 2025 legislative session.

As of Thursday, Dunham said there had been no talks between Bally’s management and union leadership on the indoor smoking policy. Bally’s spokesperson Patti Doyle was not available for comment Friday.

Proposal to study going smoke-free at Bally’s casinos clears threshold to come back in 2025

I’ve always taken him as sort of a middle of the road type of guy that didn’t want to upset anybody. This really just dropped out of the sky.

– Table Game Dealers Laborers Local 711 President Matt Dunham on House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi’s openness to resolving debate over making casinos go smoke-free

Bally’s Corp. has long opposed efforts to ban smoking at its properties in the Legislature. This year, the company’s Board of Directors also opposed an activist shareholder proposal calling for a study on the economic costs and benefits of going smoke-free at its May 16 virtual annual shareholders meeting, calling it “unwarranted and unreasonable.”

The push by Michigan-based Trinity Health and California-based American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation marked the first attempt at the investor level to force Bally’s to go smoke-free. The proposal was rejected by most Bally’s shareholders, but gained enough support to come back at the company’s 2025 annual meeting.

Testifying before the House Finance Committee May 9, Bally’s Senior Vice President of Rhode Island Regulatory Craig Sculos touted the addition of a 40,000 square foot HVAC system at the Twin River casino in Lincoln as a way to lessen smoke in the building.

“That system has been earning — generating — positive reviews from staff as well as from patrons,” he said.

Sculos also highlighted the opening of a new smoke-free section at the Twin River on May 3 — an area Table Game Dealers Laborers Local 711 previously told Rhode Island Current would bring little change.

This story was updated to note the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation co-filed on the shareholder push to study the effects of smoking inside Bally’s casinos.

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