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Colorado Lawmakers Debate Casino "Carve- Out "on Clean Air Anti- Smoking BillIn just the latest occurrence of a debate raging in many state legislatures around the country, lawmakers in Colorado are undecided on whether to exempt the casino industry from a statewide ban on smoking.The House Health and Human Services Committee members debated a so- called casino "carve- out" from the proposed Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act that would allow the casino industry to permit smoking in certain areas. The proposed Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act bans smoking in all bars, restaurants, public buildings, and other public places. Ultimately, the House Health and Human Services Committee voted to put the issue of the casino carve- out to the full House of Representatives, instead of killing the proposal there and then. The vote was extremely close, with seven committee members supporting and seven opposing the proposal to pass on the casino carve- out issue. Parker Republican Rep. Mike May, a Health and Human Services Committee member, succeeded in convincing fellow committee members from discarding most of the other proposed exemptions to the Clean Indoor Air Act: a proposal to exempt bars and taverns was defeated 10-3; a proposal to exempt VFW and other nonprofit veteran organization halls was defeated 8-5; a proposal to exempt the indoor portions of greyhound racetracks was defeated 7-6. Rep. May emphasized that this measure is not intended only to protect patrons and customers of bars and restaurants from secondhand smoke, but also to protect employees. "This is not about the customer side of it," May told committee members, since in restaurants, for example, "you can choose not to go there. But the workers can't." The same principle, May said, should apply to casino workers. The Colorado Restaurant Association supports the state's Clean Indoor Act bill for the second year in a row, since, members say, it is preferable to the maze of different restrictions and exemptions. The new act, they maintain, is fairer, since the current laws may simply result in customers going over to the next town. "If we're going to lose customers, we'd rather lose them to Utah or Nebraska than to the town next door," said Restaurant Association spokesman Pete Meersman. Numerous community figures and residents testified at the House Health and Human Services Committee meeting. Superior resident Susan Dreschel said that cities and counties should be allowed to make their own choices about whether to allow and prohibit smoking in bars, restaurants, casino gaming establishments, and other places. Drechsel said, "I would like to be able to go out to dinner and have a cigarette, somewhere, even if it's only in a bar," which would be illegal according to the proposed Colorado Clean Indoor Act. However, the Health and Human Service Committee decided that the only appropriate place to consider and exemption to the smoking ban are casino gaming establishments. The ultimate decision on whether to exempt the casino industry from the proposed anti- smoking bill will be made by the full House of Representatives later in the session.
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