New Jersey Senate passes sports betting bill, Assembly to follow
PLACE YOUR BETS: With four casinos having closed this year, lawmakers see sports betting as a way to help Atlantic City recover from its slump.
By Josh Kaib | WatchdogWire.com
The New Jersey state Assembly this week likely will pass a bill to allow sports betting in the state, following the Senate which approved sports betting Tuesday.
The Record reports the latest bill “is an amended version of a predecessor vetoed by Governor Christie in August over concerns that it would be voided by a federal court because it did not sufficiently clarify that the new gambling at the state’s racetracks and Atlantic City casinos would be overseen by private interests and not the government.”
Last fall, a federal court suggested that sports betting would not violate federal law as long as the state government wasn’t the body overseeing it. The state’s prior attempt at state-regulated sports betting was struck down.
State legislators see this as a way to help Atlantic City recover from its slump. Just this year four casinos have closed. The state’s racetracks are also struggling.
