Although most had initially expected that Governor Chris Christie would have already made his decision regarding the New Jersey online gambling bill, it seems as if he will stretch the decision making time to its limit.
The New Jersey intrastate online gambling bill was passed on January 10th, and all that is left for it to be passed into law is Governor Christie’s signature. In New Jersey, the governor has the final say as to whether a bill should be vetoed, or whether it should become part of New Jersey legislation. The governor has a third choice, and that is to simply leave the bill alone, in which case it would pass into New Jersey law without the governor’s direct approval.
The usual passage of time for the governor’s approval of a bill is 45 days, however, the governor does not have to make the decision until the next scheduled session of the appropriate legislative committee. This means that even though many had expected the online gambling bill to be decided by February 24th, the governor has almost a whole week longer to make the decision, since the next scheduled session does not take place until March 3rd, 2011.
Joe Brennan, Jr., the iMEGA Chief Executive Officer explained that he feels that Governor Christie is likely to end up supporting the intrastate online gambling bill. He said: "The governor looks to be using all of the time available to study the legal issues, the job-creation issues, economic-development issues and how this fits into his plans to revitalize Atlantic City."
This additional time period over and above the 45 days has not only given the governor more time to make up his mind, if he has not already made his decision, it has also sparked a lot of lobbying on both sides of the issue, with all interested parties doing what they can to sway Governor Christie’s decision.
iMEGA has been lobbying on behalf of legalizing online gambling in New Jersey, and the Caesars casino group has been lobbying against legalizing online gambling in New Jersey. The reason that Caesars is opposed to this online gambling bill is because the company feels that it is more important to have online gambling legalized on a federal level, rather than on a state by state basis.
There is a strong possibility that Governor Christie will run at the Republican party’s presidential candidate next year, and his decision regarding this online gambling bill could affect his political career.
Should the New Jersey online gambling bill be approved, it would legalize the formation of an intrastate online gambling network that would be available only to those who hold New Jersey driver’s licenses, and are of the legal gambling age.
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