Press Release - March 25th, 2026

Atlantic City, NJ —In an interview with The Press of Atlantic City, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill spoke about resolving the issue of allowing indoor secondhand smoke in Atlantic City casinos. While Governor Sherrill committed to discussing the issue with the New Jersey legislature, she did not give casino workers her unequivocal support, nor did she commit to dropping her opposition to their lawsuit to eliminate toxic secondhand smoke from casinos.

“While we appreciate Governor Sherrill’s commitment to finding a solution, the time for discussion has passed,” said Nicole Vitola, longtime Atlantic City casino worker and co-founder of Casino Employees Against Smoking Effects (CEASE). “For 20 years, casino workers in New Jersey have been the only workers in the state still subjected to toxic secondhand smoke in the workplace. Since CEASE was founded, we have testified at hearings, met with casino executives and government leaders, and submitted mountains of evidence that prove without a doubt that indoor smoking poses a critical risk to workers’ health—all while the casino industry falls back on outdated business models and one industry-bought report.

“Should Governor Sherrill follow through on her plan to discuss the issue with the legislature, she will only discover what we already know — that there is bipartisan support for smokefree casinos, and yet there remains a political block to get the bill across the finish line. Governor Sherrill’s predecessor, former Governor Phil Murphy, promised to do the same, and yet we saw no progress during his term. Every day that the legislature continues to deliberate is another day wasted and another day that casino employees have to work in toxic air.”

Legislation to close the casino smoking loophole has been introduced in both the General Assembly and the Senate with bipartisan support. It is time for the legislature to listen to Governor Sherrill’s call to care for workers by finally voting on smokefree casino legislation, and it is time for the governor to drop her office’s opposition to casino workers’ lawsuit to end indoor smoking in casinos.

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Casino Employees Against Smoking (Harmful) Effects (CEASE) is a group of thousands of casino dealers and other frontline gaming workers that formed after indoor smoking returned on July 4, 2021 in Atlantic City, NJ and has expanded to states around the country. CEASE is fighting to permanently remove smoking from our workplaces.

See what casino workers say about working in secondhand smoke: the Real Deal