There’s a lot of talk and political infighting going on over exactly where New Jersey’s first casinos to be located outside of Atlantic City should be built, even though they are currently illegal outside of the Boardwalk town.
Likely candidates include the Meadowlands, Jersey City, Newark and even the shore town of Oceanport, home of Monmouth Park racetrack. But as the squabbling continues, it’s hard to envision a clear piece of legislation emerging in time to be passed and then presented to voters in November.
Which means the whole issue could be deferred to November 2016, since no casinos can be built outside Atlantic City without voter approval.
Two bills to allow casinos in other parts of the state have been introduced to the state legislature, but each offers different locations and details for the construction and how they will be taxed. Meanwhile, towns such as Oceanport continue to push to be included in the mix.
“Everybody wants to make sure they’re not left out,” state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, who supports casinos in his northern New Jersey district, told the Associated Press.
And through it all, southern New Jersey politicians trying to protect Atlantic City continue to oppose the plans, though some have acknowledged that the loss of the resort’s monopoly on casinos in the state may be inevitable. Still, the Casino Association of New Jersey—a lobbying group for Atlantic City’s casinos—says a casino located in the Meadowlands could cause Atlantic City to lose 45 percent of its business.
Finally, state Senate President Steven Sweeney—who says he supports northern New Jersey casinos provided steps are taken to protect Atlantic City—has still not said if he will call a vote on any of the plans in time for the November ballot. Sweeney has said that since 2015 is an off-year election, it may be better to wait until 2016 when the presidential election will draw in more voters. In addition, Sweeney and several other South Jersey politicians are up for re-election in 2015. If any area of the state were to reject casinos in North Jersey, it will be the voters of South Jersey, even though it might win statewide, where voters in North Jersey vastly outnumber voters in South Jersey. But South Jersey politicians may be vulnerable if they support casinos outside Atlantic City, so Sweeney is likely to want to delay a vote until after he and his South Jersey colleagues are safely re-elected.
Among the plans are a bill in the state Assembly authorizing a referendum to approve up to three casinos in the most heavily populated counties of the state: Bergen, Hudson and Essex counties—all close to New York City. That would include the sites for the two most significant proposals made for a new casino.
Hard Rock and the Meadowlands Racetrack have proposed building a nearly $1 billion casino at the East Rutherford sports complex, promising they could have it open as soon as next summer. Track owner Jeff Gural said he is willing to pay a 55 percent tax rate on the casino—significantly higher than the eight percent paid by Atlantic City casinos. His plan would send $200 million a year to help Atlantic City’s recovery
Meanwhile, footwear magnate Paul Fireman has proposed a casino in Jersey City that could cost five times as much as the Meadowlands project. The casino would be directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan.
Officials for Newark, the state’s largest city, have also said they are working with developers and plan to make their own proposal for bringing a casino to the city. Several of the city’s politicians held a press conference last week touting the idea, but released nothing specific about the proposal.
A second bill has been introduced in the state Senate that proposes a referendum authorizing two new casinos in the northern part of the state and one somewhere in central New Jersey. The bill is seen largely as a move to keep Monmouth Park in the mix, but also opens up the possibility for sites in several other counties and on the Jersey Shore.
And to make matters more complicated, Sweeney told the AP that even more bills and proposals could come forward in the next few weeks. There’s even a school of thought that the entire state should be open to new casinos with the casino industry deciding where they would be the most competitive.
New Jersey politicians, therefore, have to figure out how many casinos to authorize and where they can be built. Other crucial questions include the tax rate for new casinos and the creation of a permanent revenue stream to help revitalize Atlantic City, which is seen as vital to getting a measure approved.
Officials in the state’s horse racing industry are also lobbying for the new casinos to provide revenue help for the state’s racetracks, including Monmouth Park and Freehold Raceway outside of the Meadowlands.
Then, of course, the whole thing has to pass muster with voters. The deadline to make the 2015 ballot is August 3.
Sweeney, again, has said he won’t move until the right bill emerges.
“I need to make sure whatever we do is a true benefit to Atlantic City,” Sweeney told the AP. “If we do this, we have to do it in a way that puts Atlantic City back to work.”
