Statewide, Iowa (RI) – A bill to ban smoking at Iowa casinos has failed to clear a subcommittee in the Iowa Senate. State licensed casinos objected, arguing they’d lose customers.
Tony Phillips is a lobbyist for Penn Gaming, which operates the Ameristar Casino in Council Bluffs.
Jake Highfill, another lobbyist for Penn Gaming, says the Ameristar Casino in Council Bluffs also has stiff competition from smoke-free casinos across the river in Nebraska.
Senator Dennis Guth of Klemme was the bill’s sponsor.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services backed the bill and a number of speakers urged senators to adopt it. Therese Harms represents Clean Air for Everyone Iowa, a coalition of groups that support a ban on smoking in the state-licensed casinos.
Joseph Hafley worked for seven years at a Kansas casino and has founded a group called CEASE — Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects.
One of the lawmakers who voted against the bill said he gambles at Prairie Meadows and serves on its board of directors, but Senator Tony Bisignano told casino lobbyists at the hearing that Iowa-based casinos need to prepare to go smoke-free soon.
KIWA Staff Photo
