“I was shunned from going into restaurants after that,” she said. She noted that she sponsored the law, passed in 2004, that prohibits smoking in enclosed public spaces in Rhode Island, including restaurants, bars, shopping malls, retail stores, schools, and sports arenas. Susan Sosnowski, a South Kingstown Democrat who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, said she, too, plans to re-introduce legislation to ban smoking in casinos once the 2024 session commences. Ruggerio said some Rhode Islanders went to the Encore Boston Harbor casino after it opened in 2019 in Everett, Mass., but he said, “They couldn’t smoke there, especially in the winter, and they came back here.” They haven’t ponied up yet.”Īdvocates note that Massachusetts and Connecticut are among the states that have banned smoking in casinos. As I told the unions: Give us the $15 million that we are going to lose over here - $15 (million) or more. “If they want to give us the revenue that we will lose as a result, I’ll stop smoking,” he said.Īdvocates maintain that state revenue would increase if the casinos became totally smoke-free.

Ruggerio argued that Rhode Island would lose revenue if it banned smoking at the casinos.

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