Bucking AC's concerns, lawmakers want casinos in North Jersey

TRENTON - New Jersey lawmakers introduced legislation Monday that would ask voters to amend the constitution to allow the state to expand gaming to North Jersey.

The amendment, which would permit the establishment of up to three casinos in Essex, Bergen, and Hudson Counties, would require legislative approval before going to voters on the general election ballot.

The constitution currently restricts gaming to Atlantic City, where four casinos closed last year amid competition in Pennsylvania, New York, and elsewhere. Atlantic City gaming revenue dropped from $5.2 billion in 2006 to $2.9 billion in 2013.

"Everybody knows, to survive in anything, you have to adapt," Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (D., Essex), a bill sponsor, said at a Statehouse news conference Monday. "If you don't adapt, you become extinct and you become a dinosaur."

Supporters argue that casinos in North Jersey would attract customers who have left Atlantic City for closer destinations in New York and Pennsylvania.

Longtime proponents of expanding gaming beyond Atlantic City won the support this year of key legislators, including Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester). A spokesman for Sweeney declined to comment on the bill.

Under the proposed amendment, taxes on North Jersey gaming revenue would be shared with Atlantic City for nongaming development there. The amendment does not specify how much revenue would go to Atlantic City. Lawmakers said that would be detailed in accompanying legislation.

Variations of the bill introduced Monday could be forthcoming. For example, Sen. Paul Sarlo (D., Bergen), who has worked with Sweeney on gaming, said he wants to limit expansion to two casinos in North Jersey.

While all signs point toward expansion of gaming, it is not yet clear when lawmakers will take up the amendment to try to put it on the ballot.

Sweeney has said it may be prudent to wait until 2016, since voter turnout is expected to be low this November. Elections for all 80 state Assembly seats top the ballot this year. The Legislature would need to pass the amendment by Aug. 3 to put it on the ballot this fall.

The proposed amendment drew swift opposition from Atlantic County lawmakers.

"Today's announcement is a blow to middle-class working families not only in Atlantic County but throughout the state of New Jersey," Assemblyman Chris Brown (R., Atlantic) told reporters. "It makes absolutely no sense to expand gaming outside of Atlantic City when every analyst and every study reveals it is a defined market and that it is presently oversaturated."

Assemblyman Vince Mazzeo, who represents the same district as Brown, also dismissed the idea.

"It's disruptive to talk about casinos in North Jersey while South Jersey families are still reeling from having their jobs, health care, and stability taken away, and while Atlantic County, Atlantic City, and our schools are still feeling the hit," he said in a statement.

Source: Philly.com