Home / Poker News February 2013 / It’s Down to the Wire in New Jersey
It’s Down to the Wire in New Jersey
Posted by: James Carter. - Thu, 2013-02-07 05:11
The fate of legal online poker in New Jersey is now squarely in the hands of Gov. Chris Christie who has until 12 PM on Thursday to sign the bill delivered by New Jersey lawmakers onto his desk more than a month ago. The governor has rejected a similar initiative in 2011, and the way he is currently handling the situation is eerily reminiscent of how he waited until the last moment to cast an absolute veto over the precursor of the current
online poker bill.
As he did in 2011, the governor has several options to consider: he can either sign the bill into law, or he can wait for the deadline to simply pass without doing anything, in which case the bill would automatically become law. He can cast a conditional veto over it, which would then allow the state assembly to amend the bill and to resubmit it to the governor's office. By simply vetoing it however, he would force state legislators to submit the bill to a vote again. If it were to pass with a greater than two thirds majority in both houses, it would become law regardless of the governor's objections.
Exactly what Christie will do this time around is anybody's guess, but he has hinted at the fact that he did not believe the legalization of online poker would generate more traffic and more revenue for Atlantic City casinos. Sen. Raymond Lesniak the main sponsor of the bill has since said that Christie was quite clueless in regards to the potential benefits brought about by the bill. Lesniak also said that back in 2011, he didn't really consider overturning the governor's veto, because he knew he did not have the support of the Republicans on the matter.
