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Opponents of ending the casino smoking loophole include state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D), a staunch supporter of the Atlantic City gaming industry during his decades in office. Sweeney, who is a lame duck following his shocking November upset to a little-known truck driver who ran on the Republican ticket in the Senate district, says ending casino smoking will hurt the industry.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
“It’s an industry that’s struggling quite a bit. The argument before was that you’re going to chase away a percentage of their business, and nobody’s been able to disburse that thought process,” Sweeney said in May.<\/p>\n
CEASE has. The group points to the fact that Atlantic City casinos reported strong gaming revenue numbers during the smoking stoppage amid the pandemic in 2020. The casinos were profitable in 2020 and this year, and have now been given substantial savings on their 2022-2026 property taxes.<\/p>\n
Murphy Again Expresses Support<\/b><\/h2>\n
The governor has said in the past that he would sign a bill that makes casinos smoke-free indoors, should it come to his desk. Murphy doubled down on that stance this week during a press conference.<\/p>\n
CEASE, as well as the “Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights” (ANR), say Murphy should be doing more to urge lawmakers to send him such legislation. The ANR’s “Breathe Easy with Smoke-Free Casinos” group argues the governor should be as proactive with banning casino smoking as he has been with pushing the PILOT tax breaks.<\/strong><\/p>\n“[Murphy] can and must do more,” the ANR declared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Atlantic City casinos were handed $55 million in property tax savings yesterday by the New Jersey Legislature and Gov. Phil Murphy (D). Now, anti-casino smoking advocates say it’s time for the state to end the clean indoor air loophole that has endangered the well-being of gaming floor workers for more than 15 years. Murphy signed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":196207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Atlantic City Casino Smoking Opponents Ramp Up Campaign After PILOT<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n