R.I. treasurer backs Bally’s shareholder proposal for smoke-free casino study

Rhode Island’s pension system has about $11,000 invested in 900 shares of Bally’s Corporation, the Rhode Island-based casino giant which owns which owns 15 casinos in 10 states and employs 9,900 people. And the 2024 Bally’s shareholder meeting is set for 2 p.m. May 16.

Trinity Health, which owns 440 shares of Bally’s stock, is asking the board of directors to “commission and disclose a report on the potential cost savings through the adoption of a smokefree policy for Bally’s Corporation properties.”

And on Thursday, Representative Teresa A. Tanzi, a Narragansett Democrat, joined casino workers in Laborers’ International Union of North America Local 711 in handing Diossa a letter asking him to vote for the proposal as Rhode Island’s representative at the shareholder meeting.

On Friday, Diossa spokesperson Michelle Moreno-Silva told the Globe, “The treasurer supports the shareholder proposal for a report on the adoption of a smoke-free policy for Bally’s Corporation properties.”

Tanzi had urged Diossa to announce his support ahead of the meeting to send a message to other shareholders.

“Many shareholders likely do not realize that Bally’s continues to allow indoor smoking, even in the year 2024, when virtually every other public place in Rhode Island asks smokers to step outside,” Tanzi wrote in a letter to Diossa. “This environment poses a grave risk to casino workers, many of whom have been diagnosed with cancer, stroke, heart disease, COPD, and more.”

But the Bally’s board of directors is urging shareholders to reject the Trinity Health proposal.

“While the board shares the proponents’ interest in the health and well-being of our employees and customers, the board believes compliance with local legal requirements relating to smoking in casinos together with the company’s existing policies and practices makes the proposal unwarranted and unreasonable,” the board wrote.

Also, complying with local smoking laws helps Bally’s remain competitive in all markets, the board said, and the company has policies to accommodate employees who want to work in a smoke-free environment.

But Tanzi said, ”Bally’s resistance to ending indoor smoking is harming the workers they claim to value and who are instrumental in the company earning billions of dollars in revenue each year.”

Rhode Island is the only state in New England that allows smoking inside casinos, she said, noting that Massachusetts and the two Tribal casinos in Connecticut do not permit smoking.

For three years now, Tanzi has been trying to pass legislation to ban smoking at the two casinos. But the proposal has been stymied by Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio, a North Providence Democrat.

On Thursday night, the House Finance Committee held a hearing on a Tanzi’s bill that would repeal the casinos’ exemption from the smoke-free workplace requirement in the Public Health and Workplace Safety Act, which took effect in 2005. The bill also would provide $1 million to help casinos inform patrons about the smoke-free policy. The committee held the bill for further study.

Senator V. Susan Sosnowski, a South Kingstown Democrat, has introduced similar legislation that would simply eliminate the casino exemption to the indoor smoking ban. The Senate Finance Committee is set to hold a hearing on that bill on Tuesday.

During an interview about the 2024 legislative session, Ruggerio told the Globe he remains opposed to that legislation, arguing that Rhode Island would lose revenue if it banned smoking at the two casinos. “If they want to give us the revenue that we will lose as a result, I’ll stop smoking,” he said.

Ruggerio, a smoker who lives near the Twin River casino, noted that Rhode Island was launching online casino gambling, or “iGaming,” in March — an initiative he championed. “If you have iGaming, you can stay home — you don’t have to go up there,” he said. “If that (smoking) offends you, you can stay home and gamble.”

On Friday, Senate spokesman Greg Pare said, “The Senate President is focused on Senate bills at this time.”

On May 3, Bally’s Twin River Lincoln announced the expansion of its no-smoking casino gaming section, which is located near the valet entrance and away from the existing smoking areas. “The additional no-smoking casino gaming area on the first floor enables guests who prefer a no-smoking environment ample space and opportunities to enjoy their favorite games,” said Craig Eaton, Bally’s president of Rhode Island operations.

But William DelSanto, a Twin River table games dealer and a member of LIUNA and Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE) Rhode Island, said his research has found that non-smoking casinos tend to out-perform casinos that allow smoking.

“It’s really a no brainer,” he said of the proposal to ban smoking at Rhode Island’s casinos. “The top seven casinos in United States for revenue outside of Vegas are all non-smoking, including our neighbors Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, which just had a record year after going non-smoking.”

DelSanto urged Ruggerio to allow senators to vote on the casino smoking ban legislation. “I believe he has that old-school mentality that gambling goes hand-in-hand with cigarettes,” he said. “That is not true anymore. This is 2024.”

He noted New Jersey casino workers have sued, arguing that state officials have violated their constitutional rights by allowing casinos to force employees to work in toxic conditions that have caused life-threatening illness and death.

DelSanto said Rhode Island casino workers would file a similar lawsuit if the funding becomes available.

“In Rhode Island, you can’t smoke in restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, even some public outdoor beaches, yet they allow smoking in the two casinos,” he said. “That is the definition of discrimination. You are selecting a class of people and not protecting them.”

Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.