New Jersey Senator Raymond Lesniak has reintroduced a new version of his popular bill which would legalize online casinos and poker clients in the Garden State.
Lesniak’s original proposal was vetoed a few months ago by state governor Chris Christie, who stated that he would be open to a resubmission of an in internet gaming law. The problem with the first attempt, the governor stated, was in the structure and wording.
“In my view,” Christie said following the veto, “the creation of a legal fiction deeming all wagers to have ‘originated’ in Atlantic City cannot overcome the clear and unambiguous language of the State Constitution… The expansion of gambling in New Jersey has been slow and cautious.”
Now, things are looking a bit different for his state. The horse racing industry, which has proved to be a major source of tax revenue in the past, has fallen on hard times in recent months. New Jersey’s largest horse breeding farm has closed, signifying a major shift in the state’s economic picture.
“I hope [Governor Christie] cares enough about Atlantic City,” said Lesniak, “about hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue, about hundreds of thousands of jobs. We can be the Mecca, if you will; the Silicon Valley for Internet gaming when it spreads, as it will, across the nation and internationally.”
With all of the optimism surrounding New Jersey’s initial foray into online gaming legislation, the momentum behind their second push should be monumental.