Senate today voted to ban smoking in casinos
The Senate today voted to ban smoking in casinos – but not for another year. That means the proposal has to go back to the House, where the bill sponsor said she would ask for conference committee negotiations between the two chambers. The proposal would remove an exemption casinos had from last year’s statewide smoking ban. While the House approved the ban to take effect in July, the Senate has been tinkering with the bill. On its first Senate vote, lawmakers approved an amendment that would have essentially gutted the bill by not letting the ban on casino smoking take place until exemptions for the Denver International Airport smoking lounge and cigar bars were also removed. 
Sen. Abel Tapia this morning said he mistakenly voted for that “poison pill” amendment, thinking it only extended enactment of the new casino ban. The Senate voted 18-16 to put the bill back to its original House form, then voted 18-16 for the amendment by Sen. Shawn Mitchell to delay enactment for a year. House sponsor Rep. Anne McGihon called the Senate’s action “irresponsible” by delaying for one more year the rights of 8,000 casino workers to have clean air at work.