Bill banning smoking in Iowa’s casinos takes step forward

DES MOINES — Just like bars and restaurants in the state, smoking would be prohibited inside Iowa casinos under legislation that took a step forward Tuesday.

House Study Bill 148 would repeal casinos' exemption from Iowa's smoke-free air law.

Passed in 2008 to protect Iowans from secondhand smoke, the law prohibits smoking in most public places, including restaurants, bars and workplaces. It also prohibits smoking in some outdoor areas. Exemptions, however, were made for gambling floors in state-licensed casinos as well as outdoor patios or decks at bars where food is not prepared on the premises.

Supporters of the legislation, including health organizations, said smoking rates, health care costs and hospitalizations for smoking related health conditions have significantly fallen since the law took effect, making for a healthier workforce and state. It is beyond time, they said, to close what they see as a loophole and protect casino workers from the hazards of secondhand smoke, the same as other workers in the state.

Representatives for Iowa’s state-licensed commercial casinos argued revenues would drop by up to 30 percent with a smoking ban, as gamblers who smoke would go to tribal casinos in Iowa or surrounding states where smoking is permitted.

Threase Harms, a lobbyist representing CAFE (Clean Air For Everyone) Iowa Citizens Action Network, an organization that advocates for tobacco control policies, said indoor smoking allowed in Iowa casinos has been a significant contributor to the state’s climbing cancer rates and the death of more than 2,700-some Iowans.

Iowa has the fastest-growing rate of new cancers and ranks second-highest in cancer rates compared with other states.

“Casino workers in Iowa have been fighting for their right to clean air for far too long,” Traci Kennedy, Midwest states strategist for Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, told lawmakers during Tuesday’s subcommittee hearing on the bill. “Eight-six percent of Iowans are nonsmokers, and yet casinos still cater to the other 14 percent. Casino workers and patrons deserve to work, dine and game without putting themselves at risk.”

Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska all have smoke-free commercial casinos.

“Those markets are competitive and really squeezing us here in the middle,” Kennedy said. “And so I really think this is our opportunity to modernize our smoke-free air law. The markets have changed. Smoking behaviors have changed. It really warrants our attention to close this loophole.”

Jackie Cale, a lobbyist representing American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), said tobacco use and exposure is the leading preventable cause of cancer, accounting for about one-fourth of cancer-related deaths in the state.

“This legislature has done a great job of bringing bills forward to address Iowa's high cancer rates, but if we're serious about addressing them, tobacco control needs to be part of that equation,” Cale told lawmakers.

She said casino workers have a 20 percent higher risk of lung cancer due to exposure to secondhand smoke.

“There is no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure, making this an occupational hazard for casino workers, and no one should have to choose between their health and their job,” Cale said, noting 20 states have smoke-free casinos.

“When smoking is allowed in the workplace, business owners’ costs are increased, with employers paying increased health, life and fire insurance premiums, high worker compensation payments and experience lower worker productivity,” she said.

Iowa Gaming Association president and CEO Mary Earnhardt said a smoking ban would “significantly curtail” the estimated $1 billion annual economic impact of Iowa’s 19 state-licensed commercial casinos, including employee salaries, purchasing Iowa-based products and services, charitable contributions and state and local tax revenue.

She pointed to studies from Delaware, Illinois and Colorado that showed casino revenues in those states fell between 9 percent and 22 percent.

Opponents contend the studies from 2002 and 2009 are outdated and fail to show whether casino revenues have since bounced back.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Shannon Lundgren, a Republican whose family opened a restaurant in Peosta in 2007, the year before Iowa’s smoke-free air law was enacted.

Lundgren said she also worked at the former Dubuque Casino Belle gambling riverboat.

“So I am pro-casino, and I want to make that very clear,” she said.

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Lundgren said she supports her restaurant being smoke-free, a switch she said her family was contemplating before the 2008 law.

“However, as a small-business owner, the state of Iowa decided that they could dictate to my small business that I couldn't have made this decision on my own, but they gave the casinos an exemption,” Lundgren said. “And I will tell you it is one of the reasons I ran. It is a stick in my craw.”

Lundgren, who was first elected in 2016, said it’s been her goal for the last eight-plus years to repeal the exemption for casinos. This is the first year her bill has received a subcommittee hearing, which she was able to order as chair of the House Commerce Committee.

Rep. Sami Scheetz, D-Cedar Rapids, served on the subcommittee with Lundgren and Rep. Austin Harris, R-Moulton. All three signed off on advancing the bill to full committee.

Scheetz called the bill “great for protecting Iowa workers.” Harris said he was willing to continue the conversation, but did not plan to support the bill in committee.

Lundgren, speaking to The Gazette, said it is a toss-up whether the bill will clear committee and make it to the House floor.

Video: Rep. Konfrst, Sen. Weiner discuss legislation that would require Iowa casinos be smoke free

This story was updated on February 20, 2025 at 2:31 p.m. to add video.

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com