Following months of private talks, potential compromise emerges in casino smoking ban debate

Yahoo

a day ago

A lit cigarette rests in an ashtray by a slot machine at Bally's Twin River Lincoln in 2023. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
Early 2027 could be when Rhode Island's two casinos finally go smoke free under a compromise brokered by the Senate's new majority leader.
Senate Majority Leader Frank Ciccone, a Providence Democrat, told Rhode Island Current Thursday that legislation will likely come before the Senate Committee on Labor and Gaming next week. The long-awaited proposal ends a loophole that has allowed Bally's Lincoln and Tiverton casinos to avoid the state's indoor smoking ban.
'This took a lot of time meeting with Bally's and the union representing the people there,' Ciccone said in an interview
But Patti Doyle, a Bally's spokesperson, said it's not a done deal.
'Conversations between Bally's and other stakeholders are ongoing,' Doyle said in an email.
Ciccone has long opposed banning smoking at the two casinos, saying he believes it would cost visitors, and revenue. He initially sought to negotiate an agreement between the Providence-based casino giant and its union workers to expand existing non-smoking areas at the Lincoln facility. But union officials opposed any deals that kept smoke inside, Ciccone said.
Rhode Island AFL-CIO President Patrick Crowley said in an interview Thursday that workers were willing to find common ground, but their goal was always to get smoking out of the state's two casinos.
'It's not good for them, it's not good for the customers, it's not good for the state,' Crowley said.
So Ciccone instead focused on what Bally's could stomach in the effort to end smoking. That led to his last-minute filing of a bill, submitted on May 23, to raise the cap on marketing reimbursements the company receives from the Rhode Island Lottery — a measure the Senate approved 32-4 on Tuesday despite objections from state regulators.
While seemingly unrelated to the smoking debate, the marketing measure intends to help Bally's offset any revenue losses from a smoking ban. The company has projected an annual loss of $20 million, Doyle previously said.
Should the revised legislation be approved by the General Assembly, Ciccone said the ban would take effect January 2027. The original companion bills introduced by Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski and Rep. Teresa Tanzi, both South Kingstown Democrats, called for smoking inside the state's casinos to cease immediately upon the governor's signature.
Sosnowski did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Tanzi questioned why the Senate would consider allowing employees to work within the smoke for an additional 18 months.
'These workers deserve to have a smoke-free environment now,' she said in an interview. 'I look forward to understanding the justification of the 18-month delay.'
But Crowley called Ciccone's proposed date 'a big win' for Bally's workers, who have spent years urging lawmakers to end smoking at casinos. The proposal was among the top legislative priorities this year for the AFL-CIO, which commissioned a poll in February suggesting nearly 7 in 10 survey respondents 'strongly' or 'somewhat' supported a smoking ban.
Legislative leaders also appear on board. Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi is one of 10 co-sponsors listed on the latest edition of Tanzi's bill, which has the backing of 55 of the chamber's 75 members. Senate President Valarie Lawson, an East Providence Democrat, has stated she personally supports a smoking ban.
New compromise struck on the smoking ban comes a day after the Senate voted 30-3 in support of Ciccone's bill to open Rhode Island's online sports betting industry to new vendors, ending International Game Technology (IGT) PLC's five-year monopoly over the state's digital sportsbook.
Democratic Sens. Dawn Euer of Newport, Tiara Mack of Providence, and Linda Ujifusa of Portsmouth voted against the legislation.
The bill as approved in a revised form bars the Rhode Island Lottery from extending IGT's contract beyond Jan. 31, 2026, even though the company's deal to operate the Sportsbook RI app runs through November of that year. Ciccone said Thursday that the change was made to align with the Lottery's plans to issue a request for information on expansion in the first quarter of 2026.
A Lottery-commissioned report by Spectrum Gaming Group recommended adding four to six new online sports betting vendors, but only if the state makes itself more attractive to popular companies like DraftKings and FanDuel.
Spectrum found that companies may not be interested in expanding to Rhode Island due to its 51% tax on operators' revenues — tied with New York and New Hampshire for the steepest in the country.
Lottery Director Mark Furcolo wrote to the Senate Committee on Gaming and Labor on April 30 that the legislation could violate regulators' constitutional authority to renew gaming contracts. Furcolo also had concerns with the economic feasibility of expanding to five vendors.
'The bill now addresses our primary concerns but does not eliminate the constitutional issue raised in the letter,' Paul Grimaldi, a spokesperson for the Lottery, said in an email Thursday.
Ciccone's bill now heads to the House for consideration. Companion legislation sponsored by Rep. Matthew Dawson, an East Providence Democrat, remains held for further study following its initial May 1 hearing before the House Committee on Finance.
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