Iowa Casino Smoking Bill Clears House Committee, Moves to Full Chamber Floor
Posted on: February 27, 2025, 10:42h.
Last updated on: February 27, 2025, 10:47h.
- A bill to end casino smoking in Iowa is advancing
- Currently, smoking is allowed on the gaming floors
- Iowa casinos wish to retain smoking
Iowa casino smoking could soon become a thing of the past, as legislation to force the state’s 19 gaming properties to go fully smoke-free continues to advance in Des Moines.
House Study Bill 148 was introduced on February 11 by Reps. Shannon Lundgren (R-Peosta) and Sami Scheetz (D-Cedar Rapids). If passed and signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds (R), Iowa’s Smokefree Air Act enacted in 2008 would be amended to rescind the indoor tobacco use exception for facilities with slot machines.
On Tuesday, HSB 148 gained the backing of the Iowa House Commerce Committee with a 19-3 vote. The anti-smoking statute now moves to the full House floor for further consideration.
Casinos Aren’t for Kids
Earlier this month, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) greenlit a $275 million casino project in Cedar Rapids. The first expansion of casino licenses in many years will bring the state’s second-largest city into the gaming market with Cedar Crossing Casino.
Scheetz, who reps Cedar Rapids, hopes the developers will decide to operate a clean indoor air operation. But as of this writing, the project is to include tobacco use on the gaming floor. HSB 148 would force the casino’s hand to ban indoor cigarettes and cigars.
This is great for protecting Iowa workers,” Scheetz declared.
Penn Entertainment, which operates Ameristar in Council Bluffs, opposes the smoke-free push. Penn lobbyist Jake Highfill said recently that casinos are for adults who can decide whether they wish to be in a place where secondhand smoke lingers.
They are all adults. Casinos are 21 and over,” Highfill said. “There is no kid section at a casino. The gaming floors where we can legally smoke are all adults making adult decisions.”
Other casino operators also oppose a smoking ban. Gaming reps contend that a tobacco prohibition would prompt gamblers who enjoy smoking to play at tribal casinos or at commercial casinos in neighboring Missouri where indoor smoking remains. Tribal casinos in Wisconsin and Minnesota additionally allow cigarettes and cigars.
The Iowa Gaming Association argues that a casino smoking ban would cost jobs and reduce the state’s annual gaming tax benefit, which totaled almost $400 million last year.
The lone smoke-free casino in Iowa is Prairie Flower in Carter Lake, a tribal facility owned by the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. Carter Lake is a unique exclave surrounded by Nebraska and the Missouri River.
Iowa Smoking Stats
The Iowa Department of Public Health reports that about 15% of adults in the state smoke tobacco. That’s almost 1% higher than the national average. About 4% of high school students in Iowa reported smoking cigarettes at least once a month.
Indoor smoking is prohibited in all government and private workplaces, schools, childcare facilities, restaurants, bars, retail stores, and recreational facilities.
Only “the gaming floor of a premises” holding a casino license from the IRGC is allowed to permit tobacco smoking. Adjacent bars, restaurants, and other venues must be smoke-free.
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