New Jersey Governor Chris Christie stated on Friday his support for the gambling expansion plan proposed by Senate President Stephen Sweeney. Under the said proposal, two new casinos are to be established in North Jersey in a bid for the state’s gambling industry to be revitalized and to blunt competition from neighboring states.
A similar plan was proposed by Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto and Gov. Christie’s support for Sen. Sweeney’s bill resulted in the exchange of harsh words between the two rivaling parties on Friday. The quarrel partly stems from a provision in both proposals regarding who should run the two new gambling venues.
Under the Assembly-backed plan, only one of the new casinos would be operated by an Atlantic City gambling operator. And Sen. Sweeney calls for both North Jersey gambling venues to be managed by companies that have already been providing their services within the state’s borders.
Commenting on his decision to back the Senate-sponsored bill, Gov. Christie said that Mr. Prieto’s one does not seem to have gathered a lot of support and that the Legislature would simply have to move ahead the Senate plan. Generally speaking, the Governor does not have the authority to advance any such amendments to the New Jersey Constitution, which means that it is all up to the Legislature. What is more, residents of the state will also have to approve the measure prior to taking effect.
The two-year legislative session is slated to end on Tuesday at noon. This is why lawmakers called for a decision on which one of the two bills would be included in the November ballot to be made on Monday. With Gov. Christie supporting the Senate-sponsored plan, some suggested that Mr. Prieto may delay the Monday vote.
Commenting on this, Sen. Sweeney said in a Friday news conference that if the vote is indeed delayed, this would put the state’s economic future at serious risk.
As for the Assembly Speaker, he said in response that if Gov. Christie had spent more time in the state instead of campaigning around the country for president, he would have seen that the Assembly-backed proposal was the better one for New Jersey.
In order for the constitutional amendment to be put on the November ballot, it would need to be voted in favor of by the majority of lawmakers in two years or by three-fifths of both houses in one year.
