“There could be a compromise put on the table that could bring the votes. Fred Madden, said some lawmakers want to hear more from the casino industry, which he said has suggested an 18-month phase-in of a smoking ban to enable them to set up enclosed smoking rooms and additional air treatment processes. Vitale said he favors a vote on the bill as originally written, which would ban smoking in the casinos, which is currently allowed on 25% of the casino floor.īut others, including Sen. He apologized to workers who made the 180-mile (290-kilometer) round trip from Atlantic City, promising a vote on the bill “sooner rather than later.” Joseph Vitale, chairman of the Senate health committee, said the measure was one vote short of the number required to move it forward Thursday.

“It never should have happened that way,” he said Thursday. Richard Codey, a Democrat who previously served as governor, said the compromise was enacted under his tenure as the state’s top elected official as the price for getting a smoking ban for the rest of the state through the Legislature.