{"id":585,"date":"2025-04-12T07:35:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-12T07:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/?p=585"},"modified":"2025-09-22T12:09:44","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T12:09:44","slug":"ballys-lobbies-rhode-island-lawmakers-against-tobacco-ban-claims-smoking-attracts-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/12\/ballys-lobbies-rhode-island-lawmakers-against-tobacco-ban-claims-smoking-attracts-players\/","title":{"rendered":"Bally\u2019s Lobbies Rhode Island Lawmakers Against Tobacco Ban, Claims Smoking Attracts Players"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>Bally&#8217;s says indoor smoking helps its Rhode Island casinos<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Rhode Island lawmakers are again considering legislation to end casino smoking<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Casino smoking is legally prohibited in neighboring Massachusetts<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Bally&#8217;s Corporation is lobbying lawmakers in its home state of Rhode Island to oppose legislation that would force its two gaming properties to go smoke-free.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_349469\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-349469\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO wp-image-349469 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Bally&#039;s casino smoking Rhode Island\" width=\"858\" height=\"572\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/download-858x572-1.jpg\"><figcaption>Bally&#8217;s Corp. is lobbying against an indoor casino smoking ban in Rhode Island, the gaming company&#8217;s home state. Bally&#8217;s reps argue casino smoking in Rhode Island gives the properties an upper hand against casinos in neighboring states. (Image: <em>PBS<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The Rhode Island General Assembly is yet again considering legislation that would close the smoking loophole afforded for the state&#8217;s two Bally&#8217;s casinos. The carveout came through the state&#8217;s clean indoor air law known as the Rhode Island Public Health and Workplace Safety Act enacted in 2005.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">House Bill 5464, introduced in February by lead sponsor Rep. Teresa Tanzi (D-South Kingstown), and its Senate companion legislation, Senate Bill 188, would repeal the indoor smoking privileges afforded to parimutuel facilities and casinos. Tanzi has led the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/rhode-island-casino-smoking-opponents-hope-clear-air\/\">quest to extinguish cigarettes and cigars<\/a> from casino and parimutuel wagering floors each legislative session since 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">During a Thursday House Finance Committee hearing on HB5464, members of the Rhode Island chapter of CEASE, or Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects, testified about how being subjected to dangerous secondhand smoke has affected their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I&#8217;ve been with Bally&#8217;s for 12 years. I survived stage 3 neck and head cancer and stage 1 lung cancer at the same time. Maybe that&#8217;s one of the reasons I&#8217;m here &#8212; to say we shouldn&#8217;t be subjected to this. It&#8217;s not fair,&#8221; said Phil Farinelli, a floor supervisor at Bally&#8217;s Lincoln.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">&#8220;I love my job but I don&#8217;t want to get cancer,&#8221; added Karen Gorman, a cocktail waitress at Bally&#8217;s Tiverton. &#8220;Those <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/casino-smoking-must-be-banned-american-lung-association\/\">filtration systems<\/a> don&#8217;t work. We smell the smoke when we&#8217;re away from the gaming floor. If smoking is continued to be allowed, I&#8217;m probably not going to work at the casino anymore, which disheartens me.&#8221;<\/span><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Bally&#8217;s Defends Casino Smoking<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Bally&#8217;s reps said the allowance of tobacco use in designated sections of Bally&#8217;s Lincoln and Bally&#8217;s Tiverton gives the two casinos that operate slot-like video lottery terminals on the Rhode Island Lottery&#8217;s behalf, which primarily benefits the State General Fund, is crucial to its continued success.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Craig Sculos, the casino company&#8217;s senior vice president of regulatory regulations in Rhode Island, said smoking gives the two casinos an upper hand against its two major gaming market competitors &#8212; Connecticut and Massachusetts. Massachusetts prohibits its three commercial casinos from allowing indoor smoking. Connecticut&#8217;s two tribes have voluntarily gone smoke-free at Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Sculos said slots in smoking sections average $200 more in daily play than machines in non-smoking areas.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">You set the floor like you set a menu in your restaurant &#8212; based on demand,&#8221; Sculos said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Sculos also cited that Bally&#8217;s has invested in an entire non-smoking gaming level in Lincoln that&#8217;s physically separated from the smoking casino on the lower level.<\/span><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Public Favors Smoking Ban<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">A recent poll published in February commissioned by the Rhode Island AFL-CIO found growing support in Rhode Island to end the casino smoking exemptions.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The survey found that nearly seven in 10 Rhode Islanders &#8220;strongly&#8221; or &#8220;somewhat&#8221; support a smoking ban at both Bally&#8217;s casinos. Just 26% said they would oppose a smoking prohibition at the video lottery facilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">SB188 remains with the Senate Labor and Gaming Committee. Tanzi&#8217;s HB5464 was recommended for further study by the House Finance Committee.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ballys-lobbies-rhode-island-lawmakers-against-tobacco-ban\/\">Bally&#8217;s Lobbies Rhode Island Lawmakers Against Tobacco Ban, Claims Smoking Attracts Players<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bally&#8217;s says indoor smoking helps its Rhode Island casinos Rhode Island lawmakers are again considering legislation to end casino smoking Casino smoking is legally prohibited in neighboring Massachusetts Bally&#8217;s Corporation is lobbying lawmakers in its home state of Rhode Island to oppose legislation that would force its two gaming properties to go smoke-free. Bally&#8217;s Corp. is lobbying against an indoor [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":588,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585\/revisions\/588"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}