SB 188 Moves Closer to Protecting Casino Workers from Deadly Secondhand Smoke Exposure

June 17, 2025
Contact: press@no-smoke.org

Providence, RI—In a major win for working people, Senate Bill 188 passed out of the Senate Labor and Gaming Committee today and is now headed to the full Senate floor for a vote. The bill would close the longstanding loophole allowing indoor smoking in Rhode Island casinos, finally extending smokefree workplace protections to the thousands of workers exposed daily to dangerous secondhand smoke.

Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE) Rhode Island thanks the Senate Labor and Gaming Committee members for their leadership and urges swift passage of the bill on the Senate floor.

CEASE members and union representatives testified at the hearing, sharing personal stories of the ongoing health risks they face and debunking casinos’ “sky-will-fall” claims about economic impact.

“We’ve been forced to breathe poison just to keep our jobs,” said Vanessa Baker, Rhode Island casino worker and leader of CEASE Rhode Island. “This bill isn’t just about smoke—it’s about respect, dignity, and the right to a safe workplace. We thank the senators who listened and took action, but the fight isn’t over until we get this bill over the finish line.”

“I’m a dealer for table games, and I can tell you unequivocally that I am affected by smoke that is moved around by the air handling systems. The smoke is not eliminated from the area, it just gets moved around. So I get the opportunity to breathe it every hour that I’m working,” said Joel Cohen, a table games dealer at the Tiverton and Lincoln casinos. “I happen to know that they move the slot machines around, and they move the ones that generate more revenue to the smoking areas and the ones that are less popular to the non-smoking area. You can ask the slot players because that’s how it works.”

“When I’m serving drinks to people at the tables or serving especially at the slot machines, I’m leaning over to put the drinks down and I’m still susceptible or breathing in all of the smoke that they are smoking. Those vents aren’t helping at all,” Karen Gorman, member of Rhode Island’s CEASE and beverage server at the Tiverton Casino, said. “If they were working, my eyes wouldn’t sting after my shift is over. My hair and my clothes wouldn’t smell like smoke. So what is being done right now isn’t helping anyone who’s working… I’ve got a smile on my face and I’m really happy to do my job. But in the back of my mind, I’m always wondering if cancer is going to be coming for me while I’m working at the casino with the smoke.”

While CEASE Rhode Island applauds this step forward and urges the Senate to pass this legislation, advocates remain concerned about the proposed 18-month delay before implementation. This delay not only prolongs workers’ exposure to harmful secondhand smoke but also gives casinos an extended window to lobby against or weaken the law before it takes effect.

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Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) is a member-supported, non-profit advocacy group that has been working for nearly 50 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.