Nevada Legislature: Smoking ban bill debated

A hearing Wednesday on a plan to roll back a voter-approved ban on smoking in many public places pitted lobbyists for Nevada bars, restaurants and casinos against a former casino employee and public health advocates.

Both sides told the Assembly Judiciary Committee they represent the will of the people, who passed the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act in 2006, and sought to fine-tune just where smoking should be prohibited.

SB372 softens the initiative by allowing smoking in bars that serve food as long as minors are restricted from entry. Also, businesses could wall off separately ventilated smoking rooms.

"The Clean Indoor Air Act put in bold that smoking not be prohibited in standalone bars," said Jim Wadhams, representing Golden Gaming Inc. and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. "That's the will of the people."

Wadhams and other proponents of SB372 said that tavern and casino operators that serve food have had to spend money to separate their dining rooms from bars, or have had to choose between serving food or allowing smoking.

"Several taverns had to make the choice, will we be a smoking tavern or a nonsmoking tavern," Wadhams said. "Those that chose to be smoking taverns closed their kitchens and laid off their employees."

But one former casino employee testified that the smoking ban does not go far enough to protect workers from second-hand smoke, who critics say inhale the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes in an eight-hour workday.

Terrie Price explained that she worked as a card dealer at Caesar's Palace for 25 years and then was fired after organizing anti-smoking efforts. She convinced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research the affects of tobacco on casino employees, and the CDC found respiratory symptoms among employees who worked on the casino floor and inhaled second-hand smoke.

"Our lungs count also, our hearts count also," Price said. "I lost my job because of this report. I made a lot of sacrifices. This is about health. This is about people's lives."

"I appreciate the point that you make, that people who are working in those establishments have to have employment, and as a result are subjected to second-hand smoke," sad Assembly Judiciary Chairman Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks.

Proponents of SB372 also said that since the smoking ban went into effect, casinos and bars have suffered revenue losses and had to lay off workers.

"The smoking population are very strong gamblers and drinkers," said Steve Arcana, chief operating officer for Golden Gaming. "And by eliminating smoking in 2007 our operations suffered a severe loss in revenue. As a result of smoking ban, our company has had no choice but to downsize our work force."

Arcana said that monthly gambling revenue fell 17 percent within a month of the ban taking effect. Critics of the bill challenged that argument, saying the revenue losses were self-reported by the industry.

"There's nothing here to show that it was caused by the Clean Indoor Air Act," said Michael Hackett, representing the American Cancer Society.

Nancy York of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas presented findings of a study which concluded that employment sectors such as gambling, hotels and bars started showing employment declines before the clean air act was passed. She also said that the number of newly opened bars increased since the ban went into effect.

Bill supporters also said adults should be able to decide for themselves whether to eat and smoke in the same establishment, without having to bring in take-out food from neighboring establishments.

"I'm not a vehement smoking advocate, and I'm not the devil incarnate as many people on the other side would believe," said Sean Higgins, general counsel for Herbst Gaming. "A 21-year-old should be able to make that choice, whether to eat food while smoking. I have tons of families that go to the restaurant and eat, and they enjoy smoke-free dining. And we're going to continue to provide that."

The 2006 initiative prohibited smoking in restaurants and bars that serve food, in slot machine sections of grocery and convenience stores, and at video arcades, shopping malls, schools and day-care centers. Smoking is still allowed on gambling floors of casinos.

The committee, which would have to approve the bill by a Friday deadline for it to survive, took no action on the bill.