Mayor of Shreveport will not veto repeal of casino smoking ban ordinance
Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux released a statement Thursday afternoon following the May 23, passing of Ordinance 46 of 2023 which amended the Smokefree Air Act. He said he would not be vetoing or signing the ordinance, instead opting to allow it to pass into law without his signature.
On May 9, Councilmembers Tabitha Taylor and Gary Brooks introduced an ordinance that would amend the Smokefree Air Act. The amendment would rewrite the ordinance to allow smoking in casinos and would make Shreveport the first municipality in Louisiana to withdraw smoke-free workplace protections.
According to the Mayor's office, the amended ordinance permits smoking in the gaming portion of Shreveport casinos except for 25% of the gaming area. The decision to enact this ordinance is a legislative choice and was susceptible to a mayoral veto.
Arceneaux said on June 1 in a statement, "there are sufficient votes on the Council to override any veto of ordinance 46. Considering that, I have determined not to veto the legislation. However, I will not sign it."
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In the city charter, it states that a mayor does not have to sign or veto legislation and seven days after the legislation is submitted it can become law. Arceneaux continued by saying that opponents of this ordinance were compelling.
"The non-smoking areas of the two Shreveport casinos will only include machines, not table games (poker, blackjack, and the like)," said Arceneaux. "Dealers and managers will have to choose between risk to their health from second-hand smoke and their livelihoods."
Arceneaux's statement also included the economic impact of the Smokefree Air Act. "Based on the City’s revenues from the casinos, there was an immediate drop in casino gaming revenue in the range of 35% when the ban went into effect (the drop from July to August, 2021). The numbers have not recovered, still being about 83% of pre-ban levels."
In a press conference held the day before the vote on May 23, opponent and former Shreveport City Councilwoman LeVette Fuller said, "you will hear people say that this is about jobs... based on the data, there's only been a 3% difference between Bossier and Shreveport's decline in attendance in revenues for casinos, that 3% could be attributed to just about anything, considering the turbulence that we've had since 2020."
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Arceneaux made a list of expectations he hopes to see from the Shreveport riverfront casinos now that the ordinance is being enacted.
If prohibiting smoking was a substantial cause of decreased revenue, revenues should see an immediate and substantial increase. If not, the City should revisit the smoking issue.
The casinos should make significant investments in facilities and programming to make them competitive with the most successful casinos on the east side of Red River.
The casinos should insure that the non-smoking sections of the casinos have separate ventilation systems that reduce the impact of second-hand smoke on non-smoking patrons and employees.
The casinos should accommodate non-smoking employees who choose to work in the non-smoking areas of the casinos. I urge both casinos to arrange scheduling to accommodate non-smoking workers, rather than the other way around.
The casinos should ensure that the entrances to the non-smoking areas do not require patrons or employees seeking to play or work there to pass through smoking areas.
The casinos should make the same gaming options available in the non-smoking areas as the smoking areas for the benefit of both non-smoking patrons and non-smoking employees such as dealers and managers.
He ended his statement by saying, "I believe the best long-term solution to address employee health and protection from the bad health effects of second-hand smoke in casinos is a statewide smoke-free statute. Failing that, the City hopes that appropriate governing authorities would make all the casinos on both sides of the Red River smoke-free. Governments could accomplish that by making each side’s ordinance effective upon the adoption by the other of the smoking ban."
Chris Lyon, who has been an outspoken critic of the council's decision said in a statement Thursday:
"It is incredibly disappointing to see that Mayor Arceneaux has decided not to veto the shameful changes to the Smoke-Free Air Act passed by council last week. Though the council theoretically had the votes to override a veto, the mayor had an opportunity to create additional time for public input and discussion on this important issue — time that was taken from the people through backroom deals between council and the casino industry. At a time when the city works to rebrand itself as a destination for tourism and attempts to court national and international business, Shreveport will now be seen less as a city of the 21st century that keeps its word, but rather a place stuck in the 1900s whose politics change based on who has the biggest checkbook instead than the facts and wellbeing of its residents."
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Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Shreveport Mayor will not veto repeal of casino smoking ban ordinance
