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20th December, 2010 :: 07:13:51
Source: Casinos Online
New Jersey Senator attacks discriminatory sports betting law
Ray Lesniak, the feisty New Jersey state senator who has been shaking up the world of US online gambling legalisation (see previous reports), took public issue with sports betting discriminatory laws in an op-ed article for the Asbury Park Press this weekend.
Lesniak underlined the huge popularity of sports betting in the United Stats, & criticised current law which legally confines the pastime to favoured states such as Las Vegas & Delaware.
The National Football League's support for this inequitable system also came in for attack, with Lesniak saying that the football body was fooling noone in its opposition to legalised sports betting, & that the present regime "...deprives New Jersey of the revenues from sports betting that are now going to Las Vegas, Delaware & the local bookie who is often hooked up with organized crime."
The Sentor wrote that the same is true for online gaming, likewise prohibited by federal law.
"New Jersey has 500,000 registered online poker players. Who's profiting from their gambling? Offshore operations. Foreign companies & foreign countries. Sound stupid? You bet it is (pun intended)," he penned.
"Everyone seems to be taking this lying down, including Gov. Chris Christie. Either they don't care enough or believe it is too difficult to fight against the federal government. Not me," he added.
Lesniak is no idle boaster - he has authored & shepherded legalisation bills through the New Jersey legislature, including one which will see a state referendum on sports wagering next year. He has also launched litigation against the federal government on the issue.
Giving some concrete examples of the financial import of sports betting, Lesniak notes that Club CalNeva, a Las Vegas-based company that operates more than 30 sports books & handles billions of dollars in bets, estimates that sports betting will bring in $1.3 billion in gross wagering revenues & $120 million in tax revenues for New Jersey.
"That's $1.3 billion of gross profits for our casinos & racetracks, creating & keeping thousands of jobs & attracting tourists to Atlantic City & the Jersey Shore in Monmouth & Ocean County," Lesniak points out.
"That's a lot of jobs, a lot of profits for New Jersey businesses & a lot of revenue for the state. And that's why I have filed a lawsuit in federal district court to overturn the federal ban on sports betting, which gives an unfair & unconstitutional advantage to Nevada & Delaware at the expense of New Jersey & other states.
"Constitutional law scholars at George Washington University, Vanderbilt, Willamette & Whittier law schools agree that the federal ban violates the Fifth, 10th & 14th Amendments to the Constitution & its commerce clause. Even the U.S. Justice Department had doubts about the legality of the sports betting ban & expressed its concern in a letter to then-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Joe Biden," Lesniak claims in his article.
"That's why I also sponsored legislation to legalize online gaming, limited exclusively to New Jersey residents to avoid the federal ban on interstate Internet gaming. Econsult, nationally recognized for its economic analysis of government operations, estimates the gross revenues to our casinos from this legislation would exceed $200 million, with at least $30 million going into our state treasury & $16 million going to programs to benefit seniors & the disabled in the Garden State.
"I'm talking about found money, now going to Las Vegas or Delaware, to offshore companies & foreign countries, or to organized crime, being captured by New Jersey businesses to create profits, jobs & revenues for our residents & our state. It doesn't get any better than that."
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