New Jersey Lawmakers Find Casino CompromiseGov. Chris Christie Says He's 'Pleased' With Deal |
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Lawmakers in the Garden State, along with Gov. Chris Christie, announced Monday that they have reached a compromise on the most contentious parts of a plan to let voters decide in November if two new casinos should be built in North Jersey.
Christie held a press conference to say that a deal has been reached. “I’m pleased, after a lot of effort and a lot of conversation amongst the three of us, that we can announce today that we have an agreement on how to move forward on North Jersey gaming,” he said.
The deal will give existing Atlantic City casino operators six months to propose projects with at least $1 billion of investment. If none of the companies operating Atlantic City’s eight casinos pitch an idea, then New Jersey will seek proposals from other groups. One camp had wanted to only let operators in Atlantic City compete for one of the new casinos.
The locations for the casinos haven’t been set yet, but the leading locations are Jersey City and the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, close to New York City.
The compromise doesn’t include a tax rate for the casinos, but that is being hashed out, according to a report from the Associated Press. The deal, when all the additional details have been finalized, needs to be formally approved by lawmakers in the legislative session beginning this week.
If successful, state voters are going to be asked whether to amend the New Jersey Constitution to allow gambling outside of Atlantic City.
Atlantic City has eight casinos after four closed in 2014. No additional casinos closed in 2015.
In 2014, Gov. Chris Christie gave Atlantic City a five-year window to rebound from its long gaming revenue slump before considering casinos elsewhere in the state. However, gambling expansion has picked up nearby, as Pennsylvania will soon see its 13th casino and New York late last year handed out three new casino licenses.
Hard Rock International and the Meadowlands Racetrack have already proposed a project. Deutsche Bank estimated that the casino could generate $500 million a year in gaming revenue.
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