New Jersey Assembly approves egaming bill
Senator Lesniak's A2578 receives a 3-1 approval and progresses to full floor vote
Online gambling moved a step closer in New Jersey yesterday following the state Assembly’s approval of Senator Lesniak’s egaming bill A2578.
The bill was approved by three Assembly members and rejected by just one, and follows its companion bill, S1565, which passed out of a Senate committee last month.
Both bills will now progress to full floor votes in their respective chambers, and while no date has been set it, is likely to be before July’s recess.
The vote offers renewed hope for Lesniak and his supporters that New Jersey will become the first state to offer online gambling. Governor Christie originally vetoed Lesniak’s egaming bill in March last year, citing concerns that it had the potential to expand gambling outside of Atlantic City in breach of the state constitution.
The hearing on 10 May saw members in favour of the bill address Governor Christie’s concerns, such as prohibiting advertising and organising Internet gambling by anyone except casinos, as well as requiring that computer servers that handle the bets be located in Atlantic City to comply with a state constitutional requirement that all casino gambling take place in that city.
Another amendment saw the removal of the provision which would have required casinos to pay more than US$20m a year into a fund to support horse racing interests in the state.
Robert Griffin, CEO of Trump Entertainment Resorts and president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, backed the bill, and according to a report in the Press of Atlantic City, he told the Assembly: “The state of New Jersey must be in the forefront of legalizing this emerging marketplace. The state should regulate this activity, enforce strict standards to ensure the games are fair, and collect revenue rather than allow profits and jobs to illegally go overseas.”
Senator Lesniak himself said: “We want to take the lead. We don’t want Nevada to take the lead,” adding that New Jersey has already lost out on about $200m because of Governor Christie’s 2011 veto.
Since vetoing Lesniak’s (pictured) original egaming bill in 2011, Christie has publically supported the regulation of online gambling in the Garden State.
Rumours have been circulating this week that Christie was again delaying his decision whether or not to support Lesniak’s egaming bill, and that he would defer any announcement until beyond the presidential elections. Christie’s name has been mentioned as a possible running mate for presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
However Joe Brennan, chairman of the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA), told eGaming Review North America on Wednesday: “Governor Christie’s attitude to online gambling has not changed. He’s not stalling.”