Christie And NJ Tell Trump To Keep His Tiny Hands Off Their Online Gambling
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Christie signs pro-iGaming resolution into law
This month, Christie signed a resolution into law. The resolution advocates to tell Trump and the administration not to enact a federal ban on online gambling.
The resolution is relatively short. It concludes with the following comments about its own flourishing online gambling industry:
A federal prohibition against Internet gaming would directly and negatively impact New Jersey by dismantling the investments that the State and Atlantic City casinos have already made to implement and regulate Internet gaming, taking away the economic and employment opportunities already realized by the State and its residents, and foreclosing the future potential of Internet gaming to generate tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue, create high-tech software jobs, and foster valuable business ventures for Atlantic City casinos in this State.
So far this year, online gambling has generated over $100 million in revenue. In fact, many reports suggest online gambling is helping New Jersey continue to have year-over-year growth each month. Last year was the first year since 2006 that New Jersey gaming revenues went up instead of down.
Trump remains agnostic about internet gambling
When it comes to President Trump, he does not tip his hand one way or another when it comes to online gambling. There are supporters of Trump on both sides of the issue. With that in mind, it makes sense not to take a committed stance on the issue.
Christie is a Trump ally who very strongly pushes for the expansion of online gambling. Trump is also a veteran of the casino industry which, by and large, supports online gambling as well.
However, one notable exception is also a massive Trump donor. Billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson is perhaps the most powerful and outspoken online gambling critic in the country.
As part of his crusade, a number of politicians connected to Adelson have attempted to introduce federal gambling bans. In fact, several lawmakers, including former Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Sen. Lindsey Graham, have tried to pass variations on Restoration of the Wire Act (RAWA).
RAWA aims to undo any state-by-state progress on the online gambling front by imposing a federal ban. Most recently, Pennsylvania Congressman Charlie Dent was trying to introduce RAWA-esque legislation. It is worth noting his home state is currently on the verge of regulating and legalizing online casinos.
Trump’s administration has not taken any action either way yet. Hopefully he will hear Christie’s latest message loud and clear.
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