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New Jersey Panel Approves Sports-Betting Referendum Bill

TRENTON, New Jersey – As reported by the Press of Atlantic City: "Thirty-eight years ago, Dominick Magliaro contemplated robbing two South Orange grocery stores to pay off his gambling debt.

"…Magliaro spoke against a sports-gaming initiative Monday, saying the state needs to focus more on treating compulsive gamblers than creating additional gambling venues.

"Despite his arguments, the Assembly Appropriations Committee released a bill to allow voters to decide whether in-person wagering on sports teams should be legal in Atlantic City casinos. It heads for a vote on the Assembly floor, but a date has not been set.

"The bill's sponsor, Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, called the move significant because the same committee killed similar legislation in 1994. However, the bill does not seem to have much support in the state Senate, particularly because the legalization of sports betting is pre-empted by federal law.

"That means taxpayers would have to pay the legal costs to attempt to overturn a congressional ruling, a prospect Van Drew admits is a long shot at best. The nonpartisan state Office of Legislative Services has said the state cannot successfully challenge the federal ban.

"…If legal, sports betting could generate between $45 million and $50 million in direct revenue to Atlantic City casinos. Eight percent, or about $4 million to $5 million, of that money would go to the state's coffers.

"Van Drew said the state would use those revenues to continue to improve services for senior citizens. When legislators approved casino gaming for Atlantic City in 1976, the bill's success was linked to a senior-citizen prescription drug program, which today is touted as the best of its kind in the nation.

"The bill would also help squash illegal sports-wagering rings, which are involved in other illegal activities such as racketeering, extortion and drug dealing, Van Drew said…"

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