Colorado's casinos would be required to go smoke-free under a bill passed Monday by a Senate committee.

But casino owners and Republican lawmakers blasted the measure, saying it infringes on gamblers' personal freedoms to light up and that it would cost the state tens of millions of dollars of gaming tax revenue.

"What they want is the freedom to get cancer and the freedom to cause others to get cancer," said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Ken Gordon, D-Denver.

House Bill 1269, which would extend the statewide smoking ban to casinos, is a response to complaints from some casino employees who argue that they deserve the same protection from secondhand smoke that workers receive in most workplaces.

The Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee advanced the measure on a 3-2 party-line vote.

Nearly two dozen witnesses faced off over the measure Monday for nearly three hours.

John Bohannon, of the Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. in Black Hawk, predicted that casinos would lose up to 35 percent of their business if smoking is banned.

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