Iowa Casino Smoking Will Remain, as Legislation Once Again Flutters

• Legislation to force casinos in Iowa to extinguish smoking has failed
• Iowa’s casinos can permit tobacco smoking anywhere on their gaming floors, though some designate supposedly smoke-free gaming areas

Iowa casinos will likely retain their smoking privileges for at least another year after legislation to force the venues to go smoke-free once again failed in Des Moines.

On Monday, a subcommittee with the Senate State Government Committee recommended the indefinite postponement of Senate File 2051. Introduced by Sen. Dennis Guth (R-Hancock), the statute sought to eliminate gaming floors’ indoor smoking exemption from the Iowa Smokefree Air Act of 2008.

“This bill eliminates the exception under the Smokefree Air Act, allowing smoking on the gaming floors,” SF2051 read. “The bill thereby subjects the entirety of these premises to the smoking prohibitions of the Act.”

SF2051 was shelved, with casino lobbyists arguing a smoking ban would hurt business, risk jobs, and reduce state and local tax revenue. Registered lobbyists against the bill included reps from Caesars Entertainment, Wild Rose Entertainment, Boyd Gaming, Penn Entertainment, the Iowa Gaming Association, and Elite Casino Resorts.

Competing Arguments 

Guth expressed disappointment in his smoking bill being shelved.

The role of government is to protect its citizens, to protect its freedoms. It is not about economic development,” a frustrated Guth declared.

Anti-smoking advocates, including Traci Kennedy of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights and Jackie Cale of the American Cancer Society, said Iowa’s casino smoking law is outdated and catering to a smaller and smaller demographic. It comes at the cost of nonsmokers’ and employees’ health.

The business model built on smoking in the year 2026 does not make sense,” Kennedy said. “Nearly 90% of the US population are nonsmokers, and so we’re catering to a smaller demographic,” said Kennedy, as reported by the Iowa Capital Dispatch.

Cale testified before the subcommittee that there is no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure.

Casino reps contended that it’s not the job of the government to play nanny.

Nobody is making you go to the casino. It is 100% adults,” said Jake Highfill of Penn Entertainment. “Nobody is dragging kids across the floor. Let adults make adult decisions.”

During similar legislative considerations last year, Highfill said there “is no kid section” at casinos. 

Smoking Likely to Remain

While there are two other bills seeking to end the Iowa casino smoking privilege — House File 781 and House Study Bill 148 — the odds lengthened significantly with the Senate State Government Subcommittee’s actions.

Iowa’s commercial casinos generated gross gaming revenue of $1.67 billion in the state’s 2025 fiscal year. That represented a 2.6% decline from the prior year.