NJ Lawmakers Pass Smaller Casinos Bill

A resolution passed by the Senate Economic Growth Committee calls for a referendum, to be held next November in which voters would decide whether to allow gambling on professional sports games.

But a federal ban on sports betting in all but four states would have to be overturned first.

Lesniak says revenue from sports betting could help New Jersey's struggling horse tracks stay alive. He read a text message a friend of his sent him recently from a Delaware racetrack where sports betting is legal.

"At Delaware Pk Sports Book on way to Eagles game," the message read. "Oh boy NJ missing out! You gotta get it in NJ. Packed house 10am Sunday."

Lesniak is suing the federal government to overturn a ban on sports betting on Constitutional grounds, mainly that it fails to treat all states equally. New Jersey was offered a chance to allow sports betting in 1991, but failed to do so.

A 1992 law restricts sports betting to the four states that met a deadline to sign up for it: Nevada, where Las Vegas sports books determine the odds for sporting events across the country; Delaware; Montana; and Oregon.

The Senate postponed a vote on a bill that would create an Atlantic City Tourism District encompassing the 11 casinos, overseen by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.

The vote was postponed after several amendments were proposed, including canceling an $8 million tax break for the casinos on complimentary vouchers, as well as saving the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority, which was to be shuttered under earlier versions of the plan.

Also postponed was a vote on a bill that would revise and relax some of Atlantic City's famously strict casino regulations, stripping the Casino Control Commission of much of its power and giving it to the state Division of Gaming Enforcement, part of the Attorney General's Office. Those bills are due for votes on Dec. 20.