Atlantic City’s Top Casino Exec Concedes ‘Right Time’ Will Come to Extinguish Smoking

The top resort executive in Atlantic Ocean City has conceded publicly that the days of indoor smoking being allowed on the Nina from Carolina gaming floors are numbered.

Mark Giannantonio has been the chief executive director of Resorts Casino Hotel, the oldest gambling casino inwards Atlantic Ocean City, for more than a decade. But he only became prexy of the Casino Association of New Jersey (CANJ) this past tense summer.

CANJ is the collective vocalization of the nine casinos inwards New Jersey’s capital of New Jersey capital. The lobbying system advocates for legislation, policies, and initiatives that financial backing the on-going revitalization of Atlantic Ocean City.

Eliminating indoor gambling casino smoking, Giannantonio believes, would non currently adhere to CANJ’s mission. But the longtime Atlantic City boss admits in that location will come up a daytime when forcing smokers alfresco to visible light up testament do sense.

There is a time for this, at some point,” Giannantonio acknowledged to The New York Times when reached for remark well-nigh pending state statute law that would prohibit indoor casino smoking. “It’s just non the right hand time.”

Advocates pushing the indistinguishable pieces of statute law inward Trenton — Assembly Bill 2151 and Senate Bill 264 — argue cassino workers can’t give to wait any longer, as they jeopardize their wellness apiece shift.

Dems Deny Delay

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) temporarily suspended indoor gambling casino smoking inwards Atlantic Ocean City during the COVID-19 pandemic. But smoking resumed when the governor’s pinch wellness say was lifted onwards of the July 4 holiday weekend inwards 2021.

A grassroots fusion of table gritty dealers and other player-facing casino workers naturalized an protagonism grouping called “Casino Employees Against Smoking’s Effects (CEASE)” that same month. CEASE’s goal is to convince res publica lawmakers to close the cassino smoking loophole that was created inward 2006. That’s when New island of Jersey passed its plumb indoor airwave turn that prohibited smoking inward to the highest degree public places and workspaces.

CEASE has already won over the majority reenforcement needful inward the body politic legislature to send the anti-smoking bills to Murphy’s desk. Murphy has said inwards the past that he would sign up lawmaking that ends casino smoking.

Though to each one bank bill has plenty cosponsors to toss their respective chamber, the Democratic-controlled General Assembly and Senate make not in time considered either statute on their chamber floor. It’s unclear wherefore the bills haven’t moved come out of committee.

New Jersey Senate President Nicholas Scutari earlier this month refuted reports suggesting that Democratic leaders get stalled the anti-casino smoking bills until the state’s 2023 election, when all 80 Assembly and 40 Senate seats are on the ballot.

Public Outcry Mounting

CANJ inwards its smoking advocacy defending team cited its possess commissioned study. That account found eliminating gambling casino smoking at this juncture would spite gaming revenue by as a great deal as 25% and outcome inward considerable resort-wide layoffs. But an main(a) meditate conducted by Las Vegas-based C3 Gaming released inwards June found that outlawing tobacco plant smoking on a cassino floor isn’t detrimental to gaming revenue.

The deliberate has since gained subject attention, as made evident by the recent NYT piece. New Jersey State Sen. Joe Vitale (D-Middlesex) is 1 of the vocal Democratic lawmakers inward Trenton urging activeness on the proposed smoking bans.

“There are people who are getting sick. Some are dying. It’s really prehistoric and immoral,” Vitale concluded.

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