Lawmakers react to proposed casino smoking ban in Sioux City

Publication Date: 2008-05-07

• Author:Pat Curtis
• Publication:Radio Iowa

The city council in Sioux City is considering an ordinance which would ban smoking at the city's gambling casino. The state law which goes into effect July 1st bans smoking in most public places, but would allow it on the gambling floors at casinos.

Senate Democratic Leader Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs suggests Sioux City's city council would be on shaky legal ground if it enacts the ordinance. "We did not repeal the state law that prohibits local governments from adopting smoking ordinances," Gronstal says. "We did not repeal that law, so I'm not sure if they know what they're doing up there." ...

In 2003, the Iowa Supreme Court struck down smoking bans in Ames and Iowa City, ruling that local governments are forbidden by state law from enacting smoking ordinances that are stricter than state law.