DENVER-
Expanding the state’s new smoking ban to casinos passed its first test in the Senate Monday despite concerns from some casino workers that they could lose their jobs if gamblers can’t light up while they play.
Casino operators estimate that their revenue could drop up to 30 percent because gamblers won’t stay as long as they do now if they have to step outside for a smoke.
Cyd Klein, a single mother who works as a beverage server at the Isle of Capri casino, said it wouldn’t matter if casinos have patios for smokers to use.
“They could be standing out there, they’ll look in their pockets and say ‘Oh, I have $200 left, I should probably go home now'” she told members of the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee.
The panel sent the measure (House Bill 1269) on to the full Senate for debate. It’s already been passed by the House. Casinos were exempted from a statewide smoking ban in public places including bars and restaurants passed last year.
Since 1991, Colorado has allowed limited-stakes gambling has been allowed in three historic mining towns—Black Hawk, Cripple Creek and Central City.
Black Hawk native Tony Lorenz said most young people used to have to leave town to find work before the casinos opened.
“It makes it a lot more viable to live in a small town because of the gaming,” said Lorenz who works at the Wild Card Casino in Black Hawk.
But Pam Sullivan, a black jack dealer at the Isle of Capri, said although she loves her job, she worries about the effect of secondhand smoke on her health. She said she registered as having smoked the equivalent of a half of a pack of cigarettes in a test performed by a group pushing for the smoking ban.
“Everyone else in Colorado got to work in a safe and healthy environment last year and I’m asking for the same,” Sullivan said.
Some gamblers also testified that most people who head to the three historic towns where gambling is allowed don’t smoke anyway.
Chris McKinney, vice-president of Fitzgerald’s Casino in Black Hawk, said the state shouldn’t expand the ban until it lifts the current restrictions on casinos because that would help them adjust to the drop in revenue. Colorado allows maximum bets of $5 and casinos must close by 2 a.m. while other states allow 24-hour gambling.
