Rhode Island lawmakers voted to clear the smoke from Bally’s casinos, raise the minimum wage and preserve health center revenue from a controversial federal drug discount program in what was slated to be the penultimate day of legislating this year.
Most of those bills, and dozens of other pieces of legislation that advanced Wednesday, June 18, will need final votes on the final day of the annual legislative session, which is expected to be a marathon of voting on Friday, June 20…
Casino workers, labor leaders and public health advocates have been pushing to ban smoking in casinos for years, but Bally’s until now has successfully argued that smoking is one of its competitive advantages in an increasingly saturated New England gambling market.
