Louisiana’s bars and casinos can remain smoke-filled.
On Tuesday, the House health care committee refused to advance a scaled-back smoking ban to the House floor for debate, which likely ensures the proposal’s defeat for the session. Earlier, the full House had resoundingly rejected a bid to ban smoking in bars and gambling facilities.
The Senate had passed Sen. Rob Marionneaux’s bill to make bars and gambling spots smoke-free. But Marionneaux then stripped casinos from the Senate-backed bill and limited the proposed ban to bars that sell food. The reason: Marionneaux said gambling lobbyists had made certain a similar bill was defeated on the House floor.
“I have heard the drumbeat behind me. The dice hall boys have won again,” said Marionneaux, D-Livonia.
The House Health and Welfare Committee agreed to remove casinos and limit the scope of the measure, but then voted 11-6 against advancing Marionneaux’s bill to the full House for debate.
Restaurants in Louisiana already are smoke-free, and Marionneaux said bars that sell food should be on an equal playing field with restaurants. Some restaurant owners have complained the smoking ban has cost them business because people can smoke while eating in many bars.
Opponents argued the measure would just create new inequalities between bars that sell food and those that don’t. They also argued people can choose whether to work or visit a bar and the state shouldn’t regulate smoking conduct of adults.—-Contact The Daily Reveille news staff at [email protected]