The Kentucky Charitable Gaming Association and a group of bingo halls in Louisville claim that the city’s new smoking ban violates the state and federal constitutions. For that reason, they filed a lawsuit this week in Jefferson Circuit Court. This suit is similar to another one filed on November 14th by Louisville bars that claims that the exemption that allows smoking at Churchill Downs violates the constitution.

Bingo halls state that the exemption infringes equal protection and due process clauses of the constitution and that the ban denies owners their property without any compensation. Bingo hall owners believe the law hits them especially hard because it requires charitable groups that use the halls to maintain a 40% profit margin.

Louisville’s smoking ban will come into force in July and it will forbid smoking in every building, except for homes, facilities owned or operated by entities licensed by the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority and a tobacco plant. This definition includes Churchill Downs’ facilities.