Christie cited 'several significant legal obstacles' in his veto message
Gov. Chris Christie.TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie Thursday vetoed a bill that would have made New Jersey the first state in the nation to legalize online gaming.
Citing "several significant legal obstacles," Christie touted legislators’ efforts to revitalize Atlantic City in his veto message, but said there are "significant" legal obstacles to the bill.
The bill (S-490) would have allowed Atlantic City casinos to run bets and wagers remotely, as long as they were placed in New Jersey.
Proponents said internet gaming would bring in upwards of $35 million in tax revenue for New Jersey and create more than 1,500 jobs in Atlantic City.
The governor said the legislation did not prohibit restaurants, cafes and hotel lobbies from advertising for online gaming, potentially allowing commercial gambling to expand outside of Atlantic City. Commercial gambling was restricted to the resort town in a 1976 referendum, and Christie said voters would have to approve the expansion of gambling beyond that.
"Any effort to expand casino gambling outside of Atlantic City must be supported by referendum and, if the Legislature believes that expanding gambling outside of Atlantic City is in the best interests of the State of New Jersey, it should place the question of the ballot for the voters to decide," Christie wrote.
A Farleigh Dickinson University poll in February found 67 percent of voters oppose online gambling.
Christie also took issue with a provision of the measure that would use funds raised to subsidize horse racing, saying this would conflict with the administration’s goal to make horse racing a self-sustaining industry.
The bill had biparistan support, passing the Assembly 63-11 and the Senate 35-2 in January. Democratic sponsors Thursday said Christie’s concerns can easily be addressed with an amendment prohibiting people from gathering somewhere to gamble online.
"He’s making up an issue that doesn’t exist," said Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), who has spearheaded the online gaming movement in New Jersey. "I’m extremely disappointed ... he’s hurting Atlantic City’s recovery in the process and hurting job creation."
Lesniak dismissed the idea of a referendum, saying the measure can still be tweaked and enacted through law.
"The reality is that Internet gaming is coming and we need to figure out a way to make it work to benefit Atlantic City casinos," said co-sponsor Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester). "I hope to work cooperatively on new legislation that ensures New Jersey remains competitive for years to come in all aspects of modern gaming."
Supporters of the bill said they were encouraged that internet gaming could still come to fruition.
"Eventually all states that have gaming will have Internet gaming. You have to look at this as a modernization of gaming," said Michael Caselli, editor-and-chief of trade magazine iGaming Business.
Iowa, California, South Carolina and Florida are considering bills that would legalize online gaming.
"It would be a shame to miss the opportunity to be first," Caselli said. "It would be a shame to let another state do it first just because the political process took so long."