New Jersey’s state Democratic leaders have denounced a bill in Congress that would toughen the federal 1961 Wire Act and ban online gambling in the U.S.
The bill, proposed by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, would roll back laws that legalized online gambling in New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware.
The legislators came out against the bill during an annual New Jersey Chamber of Commerce trip to Washington.
“New Jersey has taken aggressive and innovative steps to bring its casino industry into the 21st century and is building on the success of those efforts,” said New Jersey Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto. “Much like gaming at casinos throughout the country, this is clearly an issue best left for the states to decide and regulate. New Jersey’s program should be left to succeed on its own.”
State Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and other elected officials called into question the role that billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson—a major contributor to Republican politicians—has in the move to ban online gambling.
“It is disappointing that certain elements are working to dismantle New Jersey’s landmark internet gambling law,” said Sweeney. “We have quickly become a national leader in the world of internet gambling, and we simply cannot afford to have all our hard work and effort undone by the whims of a few down in Washington.”
State Senator Ray Lesniak also attacked the bill. Lesniak is seen as the principal architect of New Jersey’s online gambling laws.
“Congress should leave us alone,” Lesniak said. “Instead of a dangerous, overseas black market, consumers in the state of New Jersey have a safe place to go—a program that not only includes essential consumer protections, but also generates thousands of dollars in revenue.”
Officials say the state has sufficient safeguards in place to protect underage gamblers and ensure players are physically located in New Jersey. Online gambling began in November.
New Jersey’s two Democratic U.S. Senators—Corey Booker and Robert Menendez—have already come out against the bill.
Meanwhile, the bill’s primary sponsors, Graham and Republican Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz penned editorials that ran in Washington supporting their bill.
Both argued that the issue needs a federal debate and should not be addressed on a state-by-state basis.
“It’s hard to see how the rollout of an uncoordinated and unregulated new gambling industry wouldn’t be botched,” the op-ed says. “In states where casinos operate legally, they are subject to strict regulation. However, online gaming implicates a host of issues that traditional brick-and-mortar gaming does not.”
