HSB148 Would Finally Protect Casino Workers from Secondhand Smoke and Align Iowa with Neighboring States

Des Moines, Iowa — With the House Commerce Committee set to vote on HSB148 today, lawmakers face a clear choice: stand with the thousands of casino workers who contribute to the state’s economy or allow an outdated loophole to continue to put their health at risk. Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) urges legislators to support this critical bill, which would eliminate the casino exemption from Iowa’s Smokefree Air Act and ensure that thousands of workers and patrons are no longer exposed to toxic secondhand smoke.

For more than 15 years, Iowa’s smokefree law has ensured clean indoor air in most workplaces — but casino workers have been left behind. HSB148 would finally end this dangerous double standard and align Iowa with neighboring states, including Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska, which have all implemented 100% smokefree gaming policies.

“Smokefree air is the expected norm in workplaces and public places, including casinos,” said Traci Kennedy, Midwest States Strategist for ANR. “Iowa is one of the last states in the region that still forces casino workers to breathe secondhand smoke while on the job. That’s unacceptable. The strongest smokefree laws apply equally to all workplaces — without exemptions — because no worker should have to choose between their health and a paycheck.”

ANR submitted a statement of support to Chairwoman Lundgren and Members of the House Commerce Committee, urging swift action to protect workers and close this dangerous loophole. ANR urges legislators to stand up for worker health, public safety, and responsible gaming by voting in favor of this long-overdue bill.

Background

Data that suggests casino revenues decline as a result of going smokefree rely on outdated figures and ignore evidence of other extenuating factors like the global financial crisis of 2008, market saturation, and extreme weather events. Further, A C3 Gaming report found that smokefree casinos outperform those allowing smoking.

“Data from multiple jurisdictions clearly indicates that banning smoking no longer causes a dramatic drop in gaming revenue,” wrote C3 Gaming. “In fact, non-smoking properties appear to be performing better than their counterparts that continue to allow smoking.”

The link between problem gambling and tobacco addiction is significant. By permitting indoor smoking, casinos hinder the crucial practice of taking breaks, an essential tenet of responsible gaming. While casinos may tout their dedication to promoting responsible play, their allowance of indoor smoking contradicts this commitment.

Advanced air filtration systems do protect against the well-established harms of secondhand smoke. In fact, the engineers who design those ventilation systems say they don’t solve the problem. These engineers, from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), warn that even the best filtration and ventilation systems “are not effective against secondhand smoke” and “can reduce only odor and discomfort but cannot eliminate exposure… There is no currently available or reasonably anticipated ventilation or air cleaning system that can adequately control or significantly reduce the health risks of [environmental tobacco smoke] to an acceptable level.”

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About ANR
Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR), sister organization to ANR Foundation, is a member-supported, non-profit advocacy group that has been working for over 45 years, since 1976, to protect everyone’s right to breathe nontoxic air in workplaces and public places, from offices and airplanes to restaurants, bars, and casinos. ANR has continuously shined a light on the tobacco industry’s interference with sound and life-saving public health measures and successfully protected 61% of the population with local or statewide smokefree workplace, restaurant, and bar laws. ANR aims to close gaps in smokefree protections for workers in all workplaces, including bars, music venues, casinos, and hotels. For more information, please visit https://nonsmokersrights.org and https://smokefreecasinos.org.