What Happens to the PA Casino Smoking Bill Next?
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The debate against smoking at Pennsylvanian casinos has reached a breaking point. The Protecting Workers from Secondhand Smoke Act, which cleared the House Committee late last year, was a step in the right direction. The measure is now waiting to be voted on while it is on the House floor.
In the meantime, casino locations in PA are among the few indoor venues that permit smoking.
There is No Deadline for the Pennsylvania Smoking Law to Move Off House Floor
In September of last year, a Democratic Representative from Allegheny County, Dan Frankel, presented HB 1657, the non-smoking law.
By a vote of 13 to 11, the measure was approved by the House Committee in November of last year. There hasn’t been any movement since.
It cleared the committee in the autumn, according to a representative for Frankel’s office, but the House floor has not yet seen a vote on it. Unfortunately, the office is unsure of when that will occur. Leaders in the House will decide.
According to Frankel’s office, there are still proposals up for a vote before the House Committee meets again on March 18. The smoking measure may or may not be put to a vote on that particular day. Frankel’s office hasn’t lost sight of the objective in spite of the delay.
However, the office has been trying to guarantee that it will have the necessary bipartisan votes to enact it in the meantime.
Before the vote in November, Representative Frankel expressed his confidence that the law would pass and thought it would reach Governor Josh Shapiro’s desk in March or April of this year.
That timeline seems in jeopardy right now.
