New Jersey online gambling bill approved by oversight committee

This story was published more than 13 years ago.

The continued progress of Senator Ray Lesniak's bill legalising online gambling in the state of New Jersey continues to generate excitement that the industry may be about to witness a major breakthrough - a US legalisation initiative at state level that may be followed by other state governments.

The bill has already been passed by the state Senate, and the unanimous approval of the bill by the Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee on Friday clears the way for an Assembly vote, with political analysts indicating that the desire to get this done could see it on the Assembly floor as early as Monday December 13. Forty one votes are all that is needed to pass.

After that, only Governor Chris Christie's vote - and a 45 day deadline - stands in its way. Although concerned about the implications of the bill and its insistence on state's rights for passage, the governor has indicated that he has no "philosophical objections" to its intent.

Lesniak's Bill S490 will permit the land casinos in Atlantic City to offer online casino and poker games exclusively to residents of New Jersey, generating additional revenue streams and tax income for the state through a 20% of gross gaming revenues taxation provision.

The Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA), has been closely involved in the drafting process of S490 and is on record as claiming that an intra-state internet gambling business could generate up to $250 million and $55 million in taxes on an annual basis. H2 Gambling Capital has also taken a bullish outlook, predicting that annual casino gross win of up to $290 million and poker gross win of $270 million could be achieved within five years.

Source: InfoPowa News