State Rep. Dan Frankel Introduces Invoice To Finish Smoking In PA Casinos

Smoking inside Pennsylvania casinos has been an issue during the last a number of years. These days might be winding down after Allegheny County Democratic Rep. Dan Frankel rolled out the Defending Staff from Secondhand Smoke Act.

The invoice would successfully finish smoking in PA casinos and different services that got here below the exemption of the Clear Indoor Air Act of 2008.

Most on line casino patrons obtained a reprieve from smoking in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the state and sure counties additionally had masks mandates. After these have been lifted, most casinos went again to indoor smoking.

Rep. Frankel’s invoice makes an attempt to ban smoking in Pennsylvania casinos

The Defending Staff from Secondhand Smoke Act, in any other case often known as Home Invoice 1657, will shut the loopholes the Clear Indoor Air Act of 2008 had included in its invoice. Along with affecting PA casinos, the opposite venues embrace:

• Non-public golf equipment
• Dwelling day care facilities
• Motels
• Veterans of Overseas Wars (VFW) bars
• Bars that don’t serve meals (or 15% of gross sales or fewer is from meals)

The American For Nonsmokers’ Rights, a non-profit advocacy group, mentioned in an announcement:

“We thank Consultant Frankel for his tireless dedication to ending indoor smoking in public locations and defending staff from being uncovered to the life-threatening risks of secondhand smoke. The information exhibits that casinos with out indoor smoking not solely defend well being, in addition they carry out higher as a result of they enchantment to the overwhelming majority of potential visitors preferring a smoke-free surroundings. State lawmakers throughout the nation are contemplating related laws to shut the on line casino smoking loophole and we encourage the Keystone State to swiftly go HB 1657. Nobody must be pressured to decide on between their well being and their paycheck.”

Subsequent steps for Defending Staff from Secondhand Smoke Act

PlayPennsylvania spoke with Rep. Frankel in June, previous to the Defending Staff from Secondhand Smoke Act being formally launched.

Listed here are the mandatory steps Frankel laid out:

• Flow into a bit of proposed laws amongst colleagues and ask to co-sponsor
• Introduce invoice and Speaker of Home refers it to committee
• Committee chairman decides to carry invoice or run it by way of committee
• Despatched to Home flooring with affirmative vote
• Move it on the Home flooring
• Ship to Senate to undergo above steps
• Ship to Senate flooring

For the reason that invoice has been formally launched, the primary two steps have been accomplished.

Frankel additionally mentioned in June that hearings are anticipated to happen this fall involving on line casino staff and executives, together with different legislators. There’s way more help from on line casino staff, in accordance with Frankel, who’ve not been as reluctant as earlier than to talk up.

Frankel has confidence that this will go by way of laws this 12 months, versus March 2022’s invoice.

“While you make the argument to my colleagues that individuals shouldn’t have to decide on a good-paying on line casino job with advantages whereas jeopardizing their very own well being, that resonates with people.”

Solely two Pennsylvania on line casino places stay smoke-free

Each of Parx On line casino’s services, in Bensalem and Shippensburg, are nonetheless smoke-free.

Each on line casino within the state had shut down in March 2020. After they opened up later in the summertime, all of them banned smoking because of the masks mandates in impact.

As masks guidelines started to be lifted in PA counties, casinos slowly began bringing again smoking to 50% of the gaming flooring.

Parx is the one institution that opted not to convey again smoking. It has not hindered the on line casino’s bottomline, as Parx recorded the best slot income ($389.9 million) in the course of the FY 2022/2023 by far. Besides, Parx was named one of many world’s most worthwhile casinos earlier this 12 months.

Throughout Parx Shippensburg’s ribbon-cutting ceremony in February, Chief Advertising and marketing Officer Marc Oppenheimer, informed PlayPennsylvania:

“We’ve seen two issues from it. No. 1, it has not damage us enterprise and income sensible in any respect and No. 2, our staff are very, very blissful to not be working in an surroundings with secondhand smoke on a regular basis.”

If and when smoking is banned in Pennsylvania casinos, Parx has created a blueprint to comply with.

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