November 18th, 2010 – by Danny Kirk
Two years ago, Illinois had enacted a smoking ban that had brought smokers out of the casinos in the state. Coinciding with the ban was a harsh decline in revenue in the state’s casinos.
State lawmakers are now considering repealing the ban in order to bring revenue back up to the levels they were at prior to the ban. The Federal Reserve of St. Louis has estimated that the ban has cost more than $400 million dollars in tax revenue that could have been generated since the ban took effect.
Due to the ban, it has been said that many smoking gamblers have been crossing over to other states to hit the casinos. Estimates have shown that business declined over 20% from the moment the ban went into effect.
The new law would make it so any casino that is in direct competition with a casino that is in a state that offers smoking, then the Illinois casino would be entitled to allow smokers to burn. Those that do not compete with casinos that host smokers will not be allowed to lift their ban.
Whether or not the revenue stream would regenerate and pick back up is still undecided. The casinos will have to wait and see if there is any real change in revenue should the ban be lifted.