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Corzine files to join suit vs. sports-bet ban
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TRENTON - Gov. Jon S. Corzine filed Thursday to join in a federal lawsuit that hopes to crack the 16-year-old federal ban on sports wagers.
The governor said the state would not sit back and let the state be deprived of the economic benefits of sports wagering.
In the motion, the governor argues that the ban puts state residents at a disadvantage at the benefit of the four states that have legal wagers and precludes the state government from being able to tax sports betting, unlike the other states.
The ban keeps state residents from deciding which forms of gambling are legal in this state, blocks state government's ability to limit sports wagering and submits the state and its residents to penalties should they attempt to do what other states can do.
Sports wagering is legal in Nevada, Montana, Oregon and Delaware, since those states had some form of sports wagering when the 1992 federal legislation was passed.
Even though federal lawmakers carved out an exemption for sports wagering in Atlantic City, state lawmakers were unable to pass enabling state legislation before the one-year window closed.
Earlier this year state Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Union, filed suit to overturn the national ban, along with horse racing and Internet gaming groups. While the suit is seen as having little chance for success, Lesniak has cited studies that say sports wagering could be worth as much as
$100 million in the state.
The suit came as Delaware resurrected a form of sports wagering dormant since the mid 1970s in a bid to raise $55 million in state revenue.
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Posted in New_jersey on Friday, July 3, 2009 3:05 am
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