Lawmakers joining call for casino in Bergen County
SUNDAY MARCH 2, 2014, 10:43 PM
BY JOHN BRENNAN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
New Jersey, long a national pioneer in legal betting, has tried a host of new concepts in recent years to try to reverse the erosion of its onetime gambling dominance.
The downward trend has been most evident in Atlantic City, where casino revenues are off more than 40 percent from the 2006 peak of $5 billion — a decline that has continued despite the recent launch of online betting on casino games.
Now a growing chorus of state leaders is calling for New Jersey to go “all in” once again — with casino-style gambling at the Meadowlands Sports Complex.
“Forget all this online slots, online lottery and all that — let’s just put slot machines in at the Meadowlands and get it over with,” said state Sen. Richard Codey, D-Essex, whose sponsorship of bills backing the Atlantic City casino industry dates to the industry’s origin in the late 1970s. “We need to stop trying to put Band-Aids on a gunshot wound to the head. Let’s accept the fact that Atlantic City’s problem is ‘location, location, location’ and move on from that.”
State Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Wood-Ridge, called other steps under consideration — including plans announced last week to increase the jackpots at the casinos — “fringe elements” that are unlikely to make a major difference in a $2 billion decline that has left state tax revenues with a nearly $200 million shortfall.
“The only way to maximize gambling revenues in the state is to have a high-class casino in the Meadowlands,” Sarlo said.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/Lawmakers_joining_call_for_casino_in_Bergen_County.html#sthash.QIGljN48.dpuf