The New Jersey Assembly has approved a bill specifically aimed at billionaire Carl Icahn to keep him from re-opening Atlantic City’s Taj Mahal casino as a non-union shop.
The bill now goes to Governor Chris Christie, who has not commented on the bill.
Meanwhile, the New York Post—citing unnamed sources—reported that Icahn is in talks to sell the casino, which would render the bill moot.
The bill passed easily in the Assembly by a 60-17 vote. The bill is the brainchild of State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, who is seeking to block Icahn from re-opening the casino—which has been plagued by a long labor fight—without settling union issues. Icahn closed the casino in October after being unable to settle a dispute with the city’s main casino workers union over health benefits. Workers went on strike at the Taj in July.
The bill imposes a five-year casino license suspension for anyone shutting down a casino retroactive to January 2016, which would include the Taj Mahal closing. The bill would not apply to Icahn’s Tropicana casino in Atlantic City, which entered into a new union contract earlier this year.
Union officials applauded the bill.
“It sends a strong signal that the referendum in 1976 that authorized casino gaming contemplated good jobs with benefits,” said Bob McDevitt, president of Local 54 of Unite-HERE. “The legislature is doing a good job in trying to support that social compact.”
The union and Icahn engaged in a months-long battle over health and pension benefits as Icahn took over the casino out of bankruptcy last summer. The union saw its health benefits stripped during those proceedings after a bankruptcy judge ruled that then-owner Trump Entertainment could cancel the benefits. Icahn has said the struggling casino could not survive with full health and pension benefits in place.
When Icahn closed the casino in October, it led to speculation he would try to re-open the casino in the spring without union labor.
Icahn has said in the past that he believes the bill to be unconstitutional and will discourage investment in Atlantic City.
“The bill is another absurd antic by Sweeney that will hurt Atlantic City,” Icahn told the Post.
Icahn did not comment on the Post’s report that he is in talks to sell the property.
Democratic Assemblyman John Burzichelli said the bill aims to prevent casino owners from “manipulating the licensing system.”
“At the end of the day, this is designed to be a carrot, not a stick, by encouraging casino owners to remain open, rather than allowing them to hold onto their license while they shut down and leave thousands of working-class folks without a job,” he said according to the Associated Press.
The bill would return the casino license to an owner if he or she reaches a deal with casino labor unions to reopen the casino.
