New Jersey moving Forward with Online Casino Bill
January 20th, 2012
In 2011 the state of New Jersey was real close of being the first American state to legalize and regulate online casinos including those that offer penny slots when Governor Chris Christie vetoed the bill passed by the state Senate and the Assembly. However, not everything is lost for New Jersey since during the intervening period no other state in the country have been able to reach this huge achievement.
The person behind last year’s initiative, Senator Ray Lesniak, will try to take advantage of the US Department of Justice (DoJ) hopes of changing the policies on online gambling. Via the DoJ, the federal government made clear that intrastate online casino gambling will not violate the law. Lesniak also stated to the media that he would try to get a bill through the Legislature and on Governor Chris Christie’s desk as early as the second week of January. He has also said that, “We can be the Silicon Valley of Internet gaming. It’s the wave of the future. It’s going to come and we can be in the lead on it.”
Back in August of 2011, Senator Lesniak introduced a new bill which referred to Governor Christie’s concerns. This bill adds fines of $1,000 per player per day for whoever runs an illegal online gambling operation and $10,000 for advertising such illicit operations. Players who sign up at the online casinos would have to be New Jersey residents, physically present within state borders while gambling online and be at least 21 years old. Moreover, the technology for the laws to be enforced in these matters is now possible. The bill is not scheduled for a vote on January 9, the last day of the current state legislative session. However, the Senator is trying to have it approved in committees on January 5 and then finally approved by the state Senate and Assembly on January 9 and sent to the Governor.



