Casino operators with properties in Macau are seeing share price rises after a top legislator suggested a compromise on the city-state’s proposed blanket smoking ban.

Last week saw Macau’s Legislative Assembly (LA) have its first reading of the new smoking plan, which would ban tobacco use in casino VIP rooms and eliminate the airport-style smoking lounges on the mass gaming floors. Following the reading, the LA voted 26-2 in favor of the plan, sending the bill to a committee for further study and recommendation ahead of a second and final vote later this year.

Following the vote, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam Chong Weng dismissed suggestions that the government might permit the smoking lounges to remain, saying the government had “a very firm stance on this matter and our intention is to protect the health of Macau’s population.”

However, Tam has since offered hope that the smoking lounges could be preserved if operators could provide evidence that smoking lounges “can scientifically and effectively prevent the health of gaming workers and tourists being affected by tobacco.” Tam suggested that the LA’s final verdict “will depend upon [the operators’] proposals.”