Colorado lawmakers are expected to take the first step today toward snuffing out smoking in the state’s casinos.
The gambling halls were among the few exemptions to survive last year’s hard-fought battle to ban smoking in most indoor establishments. But the sentiment toward removing that exemption seems to be drifting in nonsmokers’ favor.
Not even casino owners are united on the issue. And leaders in both houses have indicated support for the bill.
Rep. Anne McGihon, a Denver Democrat who is chairwoman of the House Health and Human Services Committee and a sponsor of this year’s measure, said Wednesday that she is confident she has the votes to move House Bill 1269 out of committee, through the House and into the Senate.
Her co-sponsor in the upper chamber is Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, D-Denver. And Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, D-Jefferson County, said she supports extending the ban.
“The e-mails that I get about this issue, they are 100-to-1 in favor of this bill,” McGihon said.
Although casino owners stood strong to defend their exemption from the smoking ban when it was passed last year, the Colorado Gaming Association has taken no stand this year, executive director Lois Rice said.
McGihon said the bill is about leveling the playing field for the gaming industry. Dog tracks and bingo parlors have never been exempt.
Some casinos, McGihon said, have approached her about changing her bill to allow smoking lounges.
But if she has her way, casinos won’t have any more options than restaurants and bars.
“Maybe the big casinos will have outdoor patios with waterproof slot machines,” she said.
Capitol bureau chief Jeri Clausing can be reached at 303-954-1555 or jclausing@denverpost.com.
