Casino workers seethe as smoking ban bill is delayed yet again in New Jersey Legislature
A bill that would end smoking in Atlantic City's casinos continues to go nowhere
TRENTON, N.J. — A bill to end smoking in Atlantic City's casinos that appeared headed for its first vote Thursday was delayed yet again when Democratic lawmakers said they did not have enough votes to advance it.
They also said they would listen to alternatives proposed by the casino industry including enclosed smoking rooms in which no employee would be forced to work.
That infuriated over 100 casino workers who packed a hearing room in the state Capitol, convinced that after nearly three years, their state representatives were ready to start the smoking ban on its way to approval.
“It's incredible that we're here begging again to have the same thing everyone else has,” said Lamont White, a dealer at the Borgata and a leader of the drive to end smoking in Atlantic City's nine casinos.
“We have to endure hours on the job with secondhand smoke in our faces without the ability to turn away,” added Nicole Vitola, another Borgata dealer active in the anti-smoking effort.
New Jersey's law banning smoking in public businesses specifically exempts Atlantic City's casinos.
Sen. Richard Codey, a Democrat who previously served as governor, said the compromise was enacted under his tenure as the state's top elected official as the price for getting a smoking ban for the rest of the state through the Legislature.
“It never should have happened that way,” he said Thursday. “It's time.”
But Sen. Joseph Vitale, chairman of the Senate health committee, said the measure was one vote short of the number required to move it forward Thursday. He apologized to workers who made the 180-mile (290-kilometer) round trip from Atlantic City, promising a vote on the
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