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6/12/2024
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House Finance to vote on indoor smoking ban Thursday
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STATE HOUSE — The House Finance Committee will vote Thursday on legislation sponsored by Rep. Teresa A. Tanzi to remove the exemption in Rhode Island law that allows indoor smoking in casinos.
The committee is scheduled to meet Thursday, June 13 at 3:30 p.m. in Room 35 in the basement of the State House to vote on the bill.
“Casino workers are Rhode Islanders, parents, caregivers, taxpayers and human beings, and they deserve the same protections as everyone else in our state. It is fundamentally wrong to say that no one should be exposed to secondhand smoke in the workplace, but carve out an exception that leaves one group of workers not only unprotected, but in fact, bathed in smoke every day,” said Representative Tanzi (D-Dist. 34, South Kingstown, Narragansett). “Taking up this bill is an important signal that legislators have not forgotten about casino workers, and I will continue working to end indoor smoking at casinos.”
In addition to banning smoking indoors statewide, Representative Tanzi’s legislation (2024-H 7500) would also appropriate $1 million to create a promotional campaign informing potential new patrons of the smoke-free policy.
House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi (D-Dist. 22, Warwick) acknowledged that there will not be time for both chambers to consider this legislation before session ends, but said the vote highlighted the continuing significance of the issue.
“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,” said Speaker Shekarchi. “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.”
The meeting will be televised by Capitol Television, which can be seen on Cox channel 61, on i3Broadband channel 15 and on Verizon channel 34. It will be live streamed at capitoltvri.cablecast.tv.
Earlier this year Representative Tanzi joined State Treasurer James A. Diossa, casino workers and advocates in support of a Bally’s shareholder proposal to study the potential cost savings of adopting a smoke-free policy for Bally’s properties. Bally’s shareholders rejected the proposal, though it may be introduced again in the future.
Advocates argue that since only about 11.8% of Rhode Islanders smoke, enacting this legislation would create a more inviting, and healthier, environment for the majority of the state to visit one of the casinos.
For more information, contact:
Tristan Grau, Publicist
State House Room B20
Providence, RI 02903
401.222.4935
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