Bills that would place a referendum on the November ballot to build two new casinos in New Jersey in the northern part of the state advanced through legislative committees.
But the bills are beginning to draw new criticism since they don’t outline specifics for the construction such as where the casinos would be built and the tax rate they would pay on gambling revenue.
Voters would have to approve allowing any casinos to be built outside of Atlantic City, which would require a change to the state constitution.
Proponents of the referendum are moving forward and leaving the details to the “enabling legislation” to be proposed in the future, according to an analysis by the Associated Press. The bills also don’t name a timetable for such legislation.
The vagueness of the referendum has brought new criticism from opponents of the plan who already say that new casino construction would further depress the Atlantic City casino market.
Assemblyman Chris Brown, an Atlantic City-area Republican, said voters need information on the tax rate, for example, before they make a decision.
“Wouldn’t you want to know how much money is coming back to the state?” he said. “If you were running a business, before you opened another franchise and competed against yourself, these are some very basic questions that you would want to know.”
Assemblyman Ralph Caputo, a north Jersey Democrat and a major sponsor of the measure agreed that the tax rate may have to be set before voters go to the polls, according to the AP.
“We have to,” he said. “When you go to the public and try to sell the referendum, you have to have this in place. Otherwise you’re not in a very strong position.”
Caputo, however, continued to challenge Brown on the assertion that the new casinos would “devastate” Atlantic City, which he said is already collapsing.
The new casinos would send substantial revenue to Atlantic City under the plan, but realistically it would take several years before any money went to the city if voters approve the construction.
The committee also heard from a spokesman for Freehold Raceway—one of the state’s three horse tracks—that the harness track’s owners “would have to think about their continued viability” in the face of added competition for gambling dollars from two new casinos, according to NorthJersey.com.
In written testimony to the committee, Gordon MacInnes, president of New Jersey Policy Perspective, a liberal think tank, asked why the resolutions were moving forward so quickly.
“Given New Jersey’s track record with gambling—one of big promises, lack of delivery on those promises, and little long-term economic benefit—one would think there would be more caution and skepticism about expanding casinos to North Jersey,” MacInnes wrote.
The bills do not set a location for the casinos. The two leading contenders are at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, where operator Jeffrey Gural has offered to pay a 55 percent tax rate, and in Jersey City, where footwear magnate Paul Fireman has proposed a casino resort costing $4 billion to $5 billion.
However, several other sites in the state, including Newark, have said they want to vie for one of the two projects.
Under the bills, the casinos must be in two separate counties and must be at least 72 miles from Atlantic City. That would eliminate racetracks in Oceanport and Freehold but leave Middlesex County towns including Edison, Sayreville and Woodbridge in the running, according to the AP analysis.
The bill would also split tax revenue from the new casinos between Atlantic City and tax relief and programs for senior citizens and the disabled statewide. Two percent would also go to the casinos’ host communities and 2 percent to the state’s horse racing industry.
The committees considering the bills have made some changes, such as shortening the time that existing Atlantic City casino operators have to apply for one of the two new licenses from the initial 180 days to just 60 days. After that, any company from anywhere would be free to apply. Another amendment set a minimum $1 billion investment in each new casino, according to the AP.
The bills now face public hearings in both the Senate and Assembly.
