Will New Jersey Ban Smoking in Casinos? State Senate Vote Says Maybe

One story I am following these days is about a movement in New Jersey to ban smoking. It's revealing that efforts to rid casinos of smoking are growing, even if for years they seemed to have no political legs. 

On Monday, the New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee voted to move forward a bill that would close the loophole that allows smoking in Atlantic City’s casinos. Smoking is not allowed in other public places in New Jersey, including restaurants and bars.

S 1493 passed on a 5-1 vote with two abstentions, giving momentum to an initiative that seemed to be going nowhere for the past three years, after a smoking ban instituted during COVID was lifted. 

“We feel like we cracked the egg,” Nicola Vitola, a Borgata dealer and smoke-free casinos activist, told the Associated Press.

In December, casino dealers who were members of the United Auto Workers union expressed frustration over a similar bill being left off the agenda by lighting up cigarettes in senate chambers, where smoking is of course not permitted. 

First Hurdle Finally Crossed

Here’s a video of  New Jersey-based CEASE (Casino Employees Against Smoking's Effects) celebrating Monday's vote to move the bill forward: 

Admittedly, this is just one step on a long road for the smoke-free contingent in New Jersey. This snapshot of comments below the victory video posted on X captures the range of sentiments on the issue:

Sentiments Wafting into Pennsylvania?

One argument against this bill is that New Jersey casinos (struggling but staying alive thanks to online gaming in the state) would lose customers to nearby casinos in Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania has a similar exemption for casinos to its statewide Clean Indoor Air Act. Like New Jersey, the state paused that exemption and didn't allow smoking during early COVID reopenings, but then lifted the pause less than a year later. 

Also like New Jersey, the state had legislation moving through both the House and Senate last year -- the Protecting Workers from Secondhand Smoke Act -- only to see the bills ultimately tabled in November. 

Meanwhile, the Parx casino in Bensalem, a suburb between Philadelphia and Trenton, New Jersey, is disproving arguments that smoking bans will reduce revenue and thus jobs. When smoking in casinos was re-allowed in July 2021, Parx decided to stay smoke-free and has maintained its position as Pennsylvania's top revenue-generating casino for both 2022 and 2023

In New Mexico, the Isleta Resort & Casino outside of Albuquerque similarly stayed smoke-free after COVID. Despite some initial balking from customers, the casino reports that revenue, player counts and customer satisfaction have all notably increased.