It looks like the state of New Jersey is once again moving ahead with its online gaming bill that would permit online poker and casino gambling within the state. Several times the bill has been stalled in Congress only to be revived, and that is exactly what’s taking place now as an amended version of the bill, Bill A2578, has just been passed by the state assembly on Tuesday, December 4 and now will move forward to the for additional voting.
A leading sponsor of the measure, state Senator Ray Lesniak says he expects the full Assembly will vote on the bill by December 17 and the full state Senate will vote on it by December 20. He’s been quoted as saying, “It’s still not too late for Atlantic City to become the Silicon Valley of Internet Gaming.”
It remains unclear how the bill will fare even if it does successfully pass both houses of the state legislature, as last year New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said that he would veto any proposed state sanctioned online gaming law that arrives on his desk. Christie already rejected a previous version of this same bill. The latest stall came when the state Assembly and Senate passed two different versions of the bill.
US accepted online poker sites
So far, the only other states to pass similar intrastate online gambling legislation have been Nevada and Delaware.
Meanwhile, another nationwide online gambling bill is trying to make its way through the U.S. Congress, with help from the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, Nevada).