SHREVEPORT SMOKING BAN?— Last year the Shreveport City Council passed an ordinance to ban all smoking in all workplaces including restaurants, bars, and casinos; the ordinance will go into effect August 1st. But the casino industry wants an exemption, and says the smoking ban will hurt their business and local economy as well. So on Tuesday the Shreveport City Council will decide on whether or not to allow smoklng in Shreveport casinos, Groups like Smoke Free Louisiana and health experts have opposed the exemption saying smoking puts the health of casino employees at risk. At a recent press conference Ashley Hebert, Louisiana Government Relations Director with the American Heart Association explained that hospitality workers deserve a smoke free workplace.
"It's beyond time to treat our hospitality workers the same; for years they have been left out when it comes to their health, having to put their health on the backburner and their paycheck first and it's not right," Hebert said.
A petition urging council members to vote no is on the American Heart Association’s website. Also on the agenda for Tuesday’s City Council Meeting – Mayor Adrian Perkins is expected to present a $236 million dollar bond proposal aimed at improving public facilities, acquiring new equipment for police and fire departments, along with new buildings, equipment and furnishings. The proposal will be comprised of general obligation bonds payable from ad valorem taxes.
This will be the second time the Perkins administration has brought a bond proposal to the City Council. An earlier bond proposal in 2019 was brought to the voters and rejected.
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