Online poker bill passes one hurdle – but it’s not near a finish line yet | Meadowlands Matters | NorthJersey.com

New Jersey...Online poker bill passes one hurdle – but it’s not near a finish line yet | Meadowlands Matters | NorthJersey.comOnline poker bill passes


POSTED ON THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2012 1:04 PM
BY JOHN BRENNAN
An Assembly committee on Thursday approved a bill that could make New Jersey the first state to allow residents to bet on internet versions of casino games such as poker and roulette – but not without some bipartisan misgivings.

The Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee voted 3-1, with one absention, to send the bill to a vote of the full Assembly.

State Sen. Ralph Caputo, D-Essex, a former Atlantic City casino executive, said that it was “hypocritical” for the Legislature to allow what he called a virtual expansion of gaming beyond Atlantic City boundaries while not considering adding brick-and-mortar casinos elsewhere in the state.

Caputo has been a strong advocate of adding a casino at the Meadowlands Sports Complex, and he said he would prefer to see referendums in November both on the online gaming issue as well as adding more casinos.
“I don’t know what anybody is afraid of,” Caputo said. “Let’s let the people decide.”

But online gaming advocates such as state Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Union and Assemblyman John Burzichelli, D-Gloucester, pointed to opinions by Constitutional experts saying that online gaming would be legal as long as the servers where the bets were executed are located in Atlantic City. Lesniak also has said that the state must act quickly to approve online gaming ahead of rival jurisdictions such as Iowa, California, and Washington, D.C.. Lesniak said the “first state to market” would gain hundreds of high-tech, high-paying jobs as the industry develops from the ground up.

For many of my blog readers, though, what’s most important is – when is this bill likely to pass?
And also, what kind of tax rate is the Assembly contemplating?


Burzichelli was the perfect person to ask, because he’s about as “no-spin” as it gets in Trenton. While he’s a determined advocate for this issue, he’s going to say what he thinks the specifics actually are.

And Burzichelli, mindful that the annual budget talks are the current priority in Trenton, said it was unclear if the bill would clear both chambers of the Legislature before the session ends for the summer on June 30. That would mean the issue would be put off until the fall.

Governor Christie vetoed a similar bill last year, and bill advocates have made numerous amendments in an effort to avoid the same fate this time.

Christie has said he is awaiting advice from the state Attorney General’s office on whether a referendum would be needed before the Legislature could act on internet betting. For instance, racetracks no longer would be permitted to have parlors where online bettors could congregate.

The Assembly version of the bill also proposes a higher tax rate than the Senate version: 20 percent of gross revenues, plus another 5 percent to the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, for an effective tax rate of 25 percent. The brick-and-mortar casino rate is 8 pct plus 1.25 pct, or effectively 9.25 percent. Of course, that rates ranks it with Nevada as the nation’s lowest.

Lesniak’s concern in his testimony Thursday was whether a too-high rate might make it more difficult for New Jersey to join a compact with other states – creating that many more players – that might have lower rates. That’s all based on the questionable assumption that the federal government jumps in soon to clarify the whole issue, of course.

Three other bills passed the Gaming committee on Thursday, including one that would permit the new developers at the former Meadowlands Xanadu site to offer simulcast betting on horse races. Alan Marcus, a spokesman for would-be developer Triple Five, was noncommital on whether the renamed American Dream project would want to offer such wagering.

A bill to allow horse racing fans to bet on mobile devices while at the tracks also passed without dissent, as did another designed to simplify the offering on bingo for non-profit purposes.

P.S. An earlier tweet noting that the revised bill appeared to limit the online gaming to poker and roulette did not pan out. It’s still the gamut of casino-style games, even slots – for now, at least.