A majority of state senators in New Jersey are co-sponsoring a bill that would end smoking at Atlantic City’s nine casinos. A majority of Assembly members have done the same, with two more backers added just this week. Gov. Phil Murphy has said repeatedly that if such a joint bill reached his desk, he would sign it.
So what’s the holdup? It’s politics, Jersey-style.
Each bill first would have to be voted out of committee in Trenton — and that won’t happen until Senate President Nicholas Scutari and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin allow for such votes.
In June, Scutari told statehouse reporters, “I don’t think people should smoke indoors” — before adding that the issue as it relates specifically to casinos is a complex one.
