Assembly panel approves NJ gaming bill
Bill progresses to a full floor vote in Senate and Assembly " "highly unlikely" to occur until September.
An egaming bill which would allow Atlantic City’s casinos to offer online gambling advanced through an Assembly panel yesterday.
The Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee approved the bill by a 6-0 margin with three abstentions, and it will now head for a full floor vote in the Assembly and Senate.
A source close to the matter told eGaming Review North America it was “highly unlikely” Lesniak’s bill would see a crucial full floor vote before the summer recess begins on 1 July. The autumn legislative session begins in September.
Senator Raymond Lesniak, the egaming bill’s main sponsor, had hoped for the bill to be passed by now. He has cited New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s “ambivalence” on the matter as cause for delay.
Supporters of the bill claim it will help to combat the declining revenues of Atlantic City’s casinos, which last year posted their worst results since 1993.
New Jersey is among a handful of US states currently considering online gambling regulation. In Nevada, the Gaming Control Board (GCB) recommended Bally Technologies and IGT for the state’s first online poker licences on 7 June, while more than 20 applications have also been submitted by the likes of Caesars, MGM and Boyd.
Nevada’s Gaming Commission will meet on Thursday 21 June to make a final decision on IGT and Bally’s applications. No date has yet been set for other hearings concerning other applicants’ online poker licences.