NJ Assembly committee passes egaming bill
New Jersey could become first state to regulate egaming in the US as bills head for full vote on Monday, but backs down from accepting international customers.
A New Jersey Assembly committee has voted unanimously to pass Senator Raymond Lesniak’s sponsored online gambling and sports betting bills to the floor for a full vote on Monday 13 December “ a move that could see both pieces of legislation become law before the end of the year if approved by the state’s Republican Governor Chris Christie.
Both bills would allow New Jersey residents to gamble online, however an earlier amendment to allow international customers to participate has been dropped, Lesniak said in front of the Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee earlier today.
Monday’s vote will have have to be carried by 41 votes or more to then be passed onto Governor Christie who then has 45 days to decide whether or not either bill should be passed into law.
A source close to the matter who attended the Assembly committee hearing spoke to eGaming Review directly after the bills were passed out of committee earlier today.
“We are about to go and talk to the governor’s people. If this passes New Jersey could become the Silicon Valley of egaming in the States,” he said.”Since [the very beginning] this has become a priority for lawmakers here,” he added. “We need to do something to reverse the State’s gaming industry’s decline in Atlantic City.
“We are very confident that this will be voted favourably on Monday and that it will soon come into law,” he added.
Bill S-490 on internet wagering would allow Atlantic City’s casinos to offer online versions of their games to New Jersey customers. Lesniak has previously said it would generate “millions of dollars in private revenue and would give casinos a new product to capture gaming dollars from tech-savvy gamblers” and that the bill would also “generate a minimum of US$35m in tax revenue to help build a bridge to self-sufficiency for our state’s ailing horse tracks.”
S-490 would also see the state collect 20% of annual gross gaming revenues. A study commissioned by lobby group the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA), which worked with Lesniak on drafting the bill, has estimated that a NJ intrastate gambling system could raise up to US$250m in gross gaming revenue and US$55m in taxes on an annual basis. H2 Gambling Capital has projected that casino gross win of US$290m and poker gross win of US$270m could be generated intrastate on an annual basis within five years. These figures would be boosted by the addition of international customers.
Bill ACR-167 proposes the constitutional amendment authorising legislature by law to allow wagering at Atlantic City casinos and at horse racetracks on sports events.
Anthony Singer, CEO and president of High 5 Games (H5G), that provides casino games to Atlantic City operators and companies such as IGT, and is one of the few New Jersey gaming companies to publicly support Lesniak’s bill, applauded the committee’s decision to take the Garden State “one step closer to becoming the first US state to legalise online gambling. “With the committee’s unanimous vote, New Jersey legislators have once again demonstrated that a regulated iGaming industry will have long-lasting value for our state.
“This legislation will bring new jobs to the state and allow businesses like ours to continue to grow and compete at an international level. While proposed federal legislation would only allow online poker at the request of Nevada casino interests, New Jersey’s bill would give its residents the freedom to play online poker, slots, blackjack, roulette or any other casino game.
“We look forward to the full Assembly addressing this legislation soon, so that New Jersey can position itself to become the new capital for the internet gaming industry,” he added.
New Jersey egaming bill timeline:
On 8 November this year eGaming Review first reported that New Jersey would vote on several online gambling bills by the end of 2010.
On 16 November we reported that Senator Lesniak’s bill to bring egaming to New Jersey had passed out of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee by a vote of 10-1, and would then be considered by the full Senate.
On 23 November we reported the New Jersey Senate voted overwhelmingly in favour of a bill to allow online gambling in the state, passing it by a majority vote of 29-5, and said it would then head to the Assembly for consideration.
On 9 December we were the first publication to break the news that the New Jersey Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee had unanimously voted in favour of passing both egaming and sports betting bills, sending them to a full floor vote on Monday 13 December, and then onto the Governor’s office for a final decision on whether or not to sign both bills into law.