New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is ready to sign off an bill legalizing online poker in the Garden State, but would like to see a few changes before it becomes law. This week he issued conditional veto on House Bill AB 2578 and sent it back to lawmakers for revision.
In his veto statement, Christie asked legislators to:
- Establish a 10-year, renewable, test period for online gambling.
- Add more funding for programs helping compulsive gamblers.
- Require state officials to fully disclose any connections to gaming companies.
- Raising the tax on online poker operators from 10% to 15%.
Christie is an enthusiastic supporter of online poker and legalized sports betting in New Jersey and made that very clear in the statement saying:
With these goals in mind, I have concluded that now is the time for our State to move forward, again leading the way for the nation, by becoming one of the first States to permit Internet gaming.
New Jersey is pushing hard to become the, Silicon Valley of online gambling, and support for gambling liberalization there is widespread.
Legislators are saying that it may be six months or more before actual online gambling is implemented.
What are your thoughts on New Jersey’s online gambling plans? Share them in the comments section below.