If R.I. passes casino smoking ban, state would pay more to cover Bally's ads under this bill
A roulette wheel inside the 40,000 square-foot gaming space and food hall Bally's opened at its Twin River Lincoln casino in 2023. (Photo by Christopher Shea/Rhode Island Current)
A last-minute bill filed on behalf of the state's sole casino operator cleared a Rhode Island Senate committee hearing after roughly 10 minutes Wednesday, despite strong objections from the Rhode Island Lottery. Now it's set to sprint toward a floor vote in the full chamber on Tuesday.
The bill introduced on May 23 by Senate Majority Leader Frank Ciccone, a Providence Democrat, would increase the cap for reimbursements Bally's Corp. receives from the Rhode Island Lottery for its marketing costs. But the legislation really serves as a contingency plan should lawmakers push forward legislation to ban smoking at the company's Lincoln and Tiverton properties.
Ciccone confirmed that he introduced the legislation at the request of Bally's as a way to make up for anticipated lost revenue if a smoking ban is enacted this year. For years, unionized workers, public health advocates and progressive lawmakers have pushed to end the loophole that exempts Bally's casinos from an indoor smoking ban.
Bally's Twin River in Lincoln and Bally's Tiverton Casino & Hotel allow patrons to smoke while casinos in Massachusetts and Connecticut are smoke-free. Bally's projects it could lose $20 million annually if smoking were fully banned at the Lincoln and Tiverton casinos, said the company's spokesperson Patti Doyle.
'As we look to the possibility of the smoking ban being enacted, we need as many tools in our arsenal as possible to bring back any lost revenue to the state,' Doyle said.
Ciccone has long opposed banning smoking at the two casinos, saying he believed it would mean lost revenue.
'I just feel that the people who are here are because they can smoke and gamble — it's as simple as that,' Ciccone said in an interview. 'If that closes, you're going to lose a small percentage of them.'
The Rhode Island Lottery is responsible for reimbursing Bally's under different rate structures — one for the Lincoln facility and one for the Tiverton casino. Both casinos have been regulated under two-tiered rates since 2010, when Tiverton's license was still held by Newport Grand under different ownership.
In Lincoln, the state reimburses 60.7% of all casino marketing expenditures between $4 million and $10 million. The state pays nothing for Bally's marketing expenditures over $10 million up to $14 million, then reimburses 60.7% of expenditures between $14 million and $17 million.
In Tiverton, the state reimburses 60.1% of marketing expenditures between $560,000 and $1.4 million. Doyle said the Tiverton casino was capped at the lower end because its contract was tied to the now-defunct, smaller Newport Grand tier structure.
During the fiscal year ending on June 30, Rhode Island Lottery projects Bally's Lincoln will be reimbursed a total of $3,640,800 for marketing expenditures, while Bally's Tiverton will be reimbursed a total of $506,890, said lottery spokesperson Paul Grimaldi.
But if Ciccone's bill becomes law, Grimaldi said, Bally's Lincoln would have been reimbursed $6,068,000 and the Tiverton casino would have been reimbursed $844,816 — representing a nearly $2.8 million increase.
Lottery Director Mark Furcolo's interpretation of the legislation is that the state would have to reimburse Bally's at a rate of approximately 60.5% up to a cap of $27.25 million.
'Should Bally's spend more than it has during the last three fiscal years, there would be a greater impact to the state,' Furcolo wrote to the committee.
As we look to the possibility of the smoking ban being enacted, we need as many tools in our arsenal as possible to bring back any lost revenue to the state.
– Patti Doyle, Bally's spokesperson
Furcolo said he was not opposed to the idea of consolidating Bally's marketing program from an administrative standpoint, but he doesn't believe the state should be on the hook for additional reimbursement.
He added that amending any new contract would require a 'time-consuming legal undertaking' and could conflict with the Lottery's plans to issue a request for information on potentially expanding the number of online sports betting apps available in the state.
Despite Furculo's opposition, the Senate Committee on Labor and Gaming voted 6-0 to advance Ciccone's bill at its initial hearing Wednesday. Not present were Democrats Ryan Pearson of Cumberland, Ana Quezada of Providence, and Brian Thompson of Woonsocket. Ciccone joined the panel in his ex-officio role as majority leader.
Ciccone's bill is scheduled to be voted by the full Senate on Tuesday, chamber spokesperson Greg Paré said in an email Thursday. Companion legislation has not been introduced in the House.
Momentum to make casinos smoke-free has grown in the House, where Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi is one of 10 cosponsors listed on the latest edition of a bill sponsored by Rep. Teresa Tanzi, a South Kingstown Democrat. The House Committee on Finance held an initial hearing on Tanzi's bill on April 10, when it was held for further study — as is standard practice for a first look by a legislative panel.Companion legislation introduced by Sen. V. Susan Sosnowski in February has yet to be heard by the Senate Committee on Labor and Gaming. No hearing date has been set.
Newly-elected Senate President Valarie Lawson, an East Providence Democrat, has stated she personally supports a smoking ban, but indicated she would like to see the standard committee review process play out.
The growing support in the House mirrors overall sentiment in Rhode Island. The AFL-CIO in February released a poll that found nearly seven in 10 survey respondents 'strongly' or 'somewhat' supported a smoking ban at the state's two casinos.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
22 minutes ago
Judge asks if troops in Los Angeles are violating the Posse Comitatus Act
SAN FRANCISCO -- California's challenge of the Trump administration's military deployment in Los Angeles returned to a federal courtroom in San Francisco on Friday for a brief hearing after an appeals court handed President Donald Trump a key procedural win. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer put off issuing any additional rulings and instead asked for briefings from both sides by noon Monday on whether the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits troops from conducting civilian law enforcement on U.S. soil, is being violated in Los Angeles. The hearing happened the day after the 9th Circuit appellate panel allowed the president to keep control of National Guard troops he deployed in response to protests over immigration raids. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in his complaint that 'violation of the Posse Comitatus Act is imminent, if not already underway' but Breyer last week postponed considering that allegation. Vice President JD Vance, a Marine veteran, traveled to Los Angeles on Friday and met with troops, including U.S. Marines who have been deployed to protect federal buildings. According to Vance, the court determined Trump's determination to send in federal troops 'was legitimate' and he will do it again if necessary. 'The president has a very simple proposal to everybody in every city, every community, every town whether big or small, if you enforce your own laws and if you protect federal law enforcement, we're not going to send in the National Guard because it's unnecessary,' Vance told journalists after touring a federal complex in Los Angeles. Vance's tour of a multiagency Federal Joint Operations Center and a mobile command center came as demonstrations have calmed after sometimes-violent clashes between protesters and police and outbreaks of vandalism and break-ins that followed immigration raids across Southern California earlier this month. Tens of thousands have also marched peacefully in Los Angeles since June 8. National Guard troops have been accompanying federal agents on some immigration raids, and Marines briefly detained a man on the first day they deployed to protect a federal building. The marked the first time federal troops detained a civilian since deploying to the nation's second-largest city. Breyer found Trump acted illegally when, over opposition from California's governor, the president activated the soldiers. However, the appellate decision halted the judge's temporary restraining order. Breyer asked the lawyers on Friday to address whether he or the appellate court retains primary jurisdiction to grant an injunction under the Posse Comitatus Act. California has sought a preliminary injunction giving Newsom back control of the troops in Los Angeles, where protests have calmed down in recent days. Trump, a Republican, argued that the troops have been necessary to restore order. Newsom, a Democrat, said their presence on the streets of a U.S. city inflamed tensions, usurped local authority and wasted resources. The demonstrations appear to be winding down, although dozens of protesters showed up Thursday at Dodger Stadium, where a group of federal agents gathered at a parking lot with their faces covered, traveling in SUVs and cargo vans. The Los Angeles Dodgers organization asked them to leave, and they did. On Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass lifted a downtown curfew that was first imposed in response to vandalism and clashes with police after crowds gathered in opposition to agents taking migrants into detention. Trump federalized members of the California National Guard under an authority known as Title 10. Title 10 allows the president to call the National Guard into federal service when the country 'is invaded,' when 'there is a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government,' or when the president is otherwise unable 'to execute the laws of the United States.' Breyer found that Trump had overstepped his legal authority, which he said allows presidents to control state National Guard troops only during times of 'rebellion or danger of a rebellion.' 'The protests in Los Angeles fall far short of 'rebellion,' ' wrote Breyer, a Watergate prosecutor who was appointed by President Bill Clinton and is the brother of retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. The Trump administration argued that courts can't second-guess the president's decisions. The appellate panel ruled otherwise, saying presidents don't have unfettered power to seize control of a state's guard, but the panel said that by citing violent acts by protesters in this case, the Trump administration had presented enough evidence to show it had a defensible rationale for federalizing the troops. For now, the California National Guard will stay in federal hands as the lawsuit proceeds. It is the first deployment by a president of a state National Guard without the governor's permission since troops were sent to protect Civil Rights Movement marchers in 1965. Trump celebrated the appellate ruling in a social media post, calling it a 'BIG WIN' and hinting at more potential deployments.
New York Post
an hour ago
- New York Post
Accused Minnesota assassin wildly claimed in ‘incoherent' letter that Gov. Tim Walz instructed him to kill Sen. Amy Klobuchar: report
Accused Minnesota political assassin Vance Boetler wrote a deranged letter addressed to the FBI in which he wildly claimed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz instructed him to kill Sen. Amy Klobuchar, according to a report. Boetler, 57, alleged in the rambling, conspiratorial letter that the former Democrat vice presidential candidate directed him to murder Klobuchar (D-MN) as part of a supposed plot for Walz to take her spot in the Senate, The Minnesota Star Tribune reported, citing people familiar with the writings. The letter, which is one and a half pages long, is mostly incoherent and gives insight into the muddled mind of the Minnesota madman, those sources told the outlet. Advertisement 5 Boetler is accused of killing Minnesota Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband and shooting state senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. Vance Boelter/Linkedin 5 Boelter was arrested on June 15, 2025. via REUTERS Neither Walz nor Klobuchar responded directly to the information contained in the letter but each issued statements on the shootings following the report. Advertisement 'Governor Walz is grateful to law enforcement who apprehended the shooter, and he's grateful to the prosecutors who will ensure justice is swiftly served,' Walz spokesman Teddy Tschann told the Star Tribune. Klobuchar said in a statement, 'Boetler is a very dangerous man and I am deeply grateful that law enforcement got him behind bars before he killed other people.' Boetler is accused of killing Minnesota House rep Melissa Hortman and her husband and shooting state senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette in an early morning targeted attack on June 14 during which the alleged killer donned a creepy latex mask and wore a police officer's uniform. 5 A copy of notes the suspect allegedly wrote in his notebook. District Court of Minnesota Advertisement 5 Boetler alleged that he was ordered to murder Sen. Amy Klobuchar Getty Images 5 Neither Walz nor Klobuchar responded directly to the information contained in the letter. AP At the home of Hoffman, investigators got into a shootout with Boetler who fled — leaving behind a 'manifesto' that listed the names of 70 politicians to kill – including Gov. Walz who once appointed the 57-year-old to a state-wide board. Advertisement Boetler was captured in a wooded area in Sibley County on Sunday following the largest manhunt the Land of 10,000 Lakes has ever seen — with SWAT teams swarming after getting a tip from a local resident who spotted the fugitive on a trail cam, the Star Tribune reported. The maniac faces federal murder and stalking charges in addition to state charges and, if convicted, could face the death penalty.
Newsweek
3 hours ago
- Newsweek
LA Mayor Rips JD Vance for Calling Senator Padilla 'Jose': 'How Dare You'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Los Angeles Democratic Mayor Karen Bass ripped Vice President JD Vance on Friday after he referred to Democratic U.S. Senator Alex Padilla as "Jose." Newsweek reached out to the office of Bass for additional comment Friday night. Why It Matters Republican President Donald Trump has prioritized immigration control as a key pillar of his second administration. The president campaigned in 2024 on the promise of mass deportations and appointed Tom Homan as his administration's border czar to execute his agenda. Protests broke out this month in Los Angeles in reaction to numerous U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the area. Trump sent National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles amid the strife, against the wishes of California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. The move was ultimately reversed by a judge, restoring Newsom's control over the state's Guard forces. What To Know Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), scheduled a news conference in Los Angeles last week regarding the ongoing protests, and Padilla, a California Democrat, was in attendance. Video footage from the incident showed Padilla pushed to the ground and handcuffed outside the door while attempting to speak to Noem during the conference. Noem stopped speaking for a brief moment during the commotion, then immediately continued. The DHS said she met with Padilla for 15 minutes after the gathering. Vance on Friday landed in Los Angeles amid the Trump administration's ramped up ICE raids in the city. While speaking to reporters, he was asked a question in reference to Padilla's forced removal from Noem's briefing. "The New York Times just did a story" about lawmakers who "keep getting handcuffed, suggesting that ... the Trump administration is cracking down on Democrats," a reporter said. "Can you comment on that?" "Well, I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question, but unfortunately, I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn't the theater," the vice president said. "And that's all it is. I think everybody realizes that's what this is." Bass afterward called out Vance, saying, "Mr. Vice President, how dare you disrespect our senator. You don't know his name," Bass questioned. "But yet you served with him before you were vice president and you continue to serve with him today, because the last time I checked, the vice president of the United States is the president of the U.S. Senate." Bass continued, "You serve with him today and how dare you disrespect him and call him 'Jose.' But I guess he just looked like anybody to you. Well, he's not just anybody to us. He is our senator." When asked about the incident, a Vance spokesperson previously told Newsweek that "He must have mixed up two people who have broken the law." Bass has been a stanch critic of the Trump administration amid the ICE raids throughout the City of Angels and vowed to stand in solidarity with immigrant communities in her city. The mayor has also called for peaceful protests and condemned any violence in reaction to immigration initiatives set in motion by the White House. She also set a curfew for a portion of downtown Los Angeles amid the ongoing unrest. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks at a candlelight vigil on June 10 in Los Angeles. (Photo by) Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass speaks at a candlelight vigil on June 10 in Los Angeles. (Photo by) What People Are Saying Newsom on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday: "JD Vance served with Alex Padilla in the United States Senate. Calling him 'Jose Padilla' is not an accident." Padilla posted to X on Friday: "I asked a question—and ended up in handcuffs. If this is how the Trump administration treats a U.S. Senator in broad daylight, imagine what they're doing to immigrants behind closed doors. We cannot stay silent. We will not back down." California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff wrote on X Friday: "JD Vance served alongside Alex Padilla, and knows better. He's taking this cheap shot to distract from the real fear and havoc this Administration is creating. It's pathetic." What Happens Next It is believed that the Trump administration will continue executing his campaign promise of mass deportations throughout the country.
