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Senate Vote on Casino Bills Postponed, Amendments Detailed

Posted on November 27th, 2010

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Despite calls to speed up the process, the state Senate decided to postpone the scheduled voting on two bills that would heavily influence the future of Atlantic City last Monday. Instead, the body decided to make amendments on the bill, including concessions on the appearance of law enforcers in the proposed tourism district and the taxation of casinos. Included in the changes of the bills authored by the Democrat-led Senate would involve the casino executives of Atlantic City launching a national campaign for casino marketing and give the power of writing or erasing casino regulations to the Division of Gaming Enforcement. As for security, the senate would now want to have the Atlantic City Police Department retain their control over high-traffic tourism areas.

The vote on the bills about the tourism district and regulatory reform was supposed to be done last Monday. The tourism district bill is the S-11, which approves the creation of a district which includes the major tourism areas of Atlantic City to be managed by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority. The other bill, the S-12, would delegate casino regulatory powers currently held by the Casino Control Commission to the Division of Gaming Enforcement. S-12 also aims to decrease the presence of inspectors in the casinos. The Senate had to call off the vote because the bills cannot be voted on immediately after amendments have just been introduced. All the amendments were the ones voted on, and they were unanimously approved by the Senate.

In detail, here are the amendments done to the bills:

• The Atlantic City Alliance, a nonprofit group to be headed by casino executives, will be partnering with the CRDA to roll out a national marketing plan for five years. The plan will be funded by the casinos. With the casinos now part of the marketing campaign, the tourism district concept of the Senate will now be closer to the public-private partnership that has been championed by Governor Chris Christie all this time in his own version of Atlantic City revitalization.
• The DGE will have the power to revoke regulations or make ones for a trial period to last nine months, with any rule changes suggested take effect as soon as possible. The immediate implementation of whatever changes DGE plans is aimed to let casinos adapt to the potential legalization of Internet gaming quickly. On Monday, a spate online gambling bill was approved by the Senate.
• The bill before gave casinos a tax break for casinos on complimentary vouchers. This suggestion was scrapped, which would now restore close to $8 million in taxes from the Casino Revenue Fund, usually funneled to programs benefitting senior citizens.
• An Atlantic City Tourism District Advisory Commission will be the reviewing body of the yearly budget, plans and recommendations of the CRDA.
• A precinct of the city’s police will be built within the proposed tourism district and would be supplied of its staffing and funding requirements by the city. The operational plan for the area, however, will be provided by the Division of State Police.

The CRDA, as per the S-11 bill, will retain its two divisions, the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority and the Atlantic City Special Improvement District. The bill plans to repeal a good number of items that are in the current regulations, which has been in place for 30 years. The bill will also be incorporating the proposal of Governor Christie to eliminate the need to have casino inspectors in the casino premises all the time.

State Senator Jeff Van Drew’s (D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic) initial proposal of a state-controlled public safety task force which combined state and local officers to enforce peace and order in the district was scrapped. He commented regarding the current bill, “Honestly, I think this proposal needs work.” He is worried that having the city be responsible for funding the police force will be impossible, given Atlantic City’s budget woes. He clarified, “We’ve just seen officers laid off. How can we be certain there will be money for an increased presence?”

Assemblyman Vince Polistina, (R-Atlantic), meanwhile, praised the Senate for taking it a bit slow and not approving the complementary vouchers plan suggested by Senator Jim Whelan. He explained, “It is good to see that other senators put a stop to the Whelan rush job and have the sense to take some time on evaluating and voting on legislation that is so critical to encourage capital investment, create jobs and provide opportunities for people in Atlantic City and our region.”