Illinois casinos hoping smoking ban bills pass in 2011

Illinois legislators have been busy at work on both issues. A smoking ban was put in effect a couple of years ago, and lawmakers have been considering casino expansion this past year. The two issues seem to always co-exist, but the casinos in Illinois are unhappy with the current smoking ban.

A new proposal is gaining traction among lawmakers and it would give riverboat casinos in Illinois some relief. The casinos blame the smoking ban for a large decrease in revenue this year, and the proposal would allow the casinos exemption from the ban. It is still unlikely a complete removal of the ban for the casinos would pass.

Lawmakers are considering the bill, which would lift the ban as long as neighboring states had no smoking bans in their casinos. The ban would go back into effect if the other states' casinos had the same restrictions. In short, that would buy Illinois casinos some time to bring smokers back into their facilities before other states caught up with the non-smoking revolution taking place across the US.

Another bill being discussed would allow smokers to light up in ventilated rooms in the casino. This would give smokers their own casino floors in places away from the non-smokers. This bill is aimed at damage control for an industry that reached its lowest revenue point in ten years during 2010.

Casinos in states all across the US have fought smoking bans, insisting that the bans are causing revenue declines. Atlantic City casinos have won the right to be exempt temporarily from a smoking ban the city has created, even though the economy has been the main reason the AC casinos have seen their revenue dip.