New Jersey's Addiction to GAMBLING REVENUE...

September showdown is set to override Chris Christie's sports-betting veto: Mulshine

By Paul Mulshine | The Star Ledger 
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on August 22, 2014

Overrides of gubernatorial vetoes are extremely rare in New Jersey. But on Sept. 22 we may see the most realistic attempt at an override in recent history.

 

That’s when state Sen. Ray Lesniak has decided to push for an override of Chris Christie’s veto of a bill he sponsored that would repeal the state’s ban on sports betting at casinos and racetracks.

 

Earlier this month, Christie vetoed that bill for reasons that didn’t seem to make a lot of sense.

 

In his veto statement Christie first said he did not wish to defy the federal law prohibiting states from setting up sports-betting operations. But that bill does nothing of the sort.

In its decision on New Jersey's prior attempt to set up a sports-betting system, the Third Circuit ruled that the state can’t set up a system to regulate the practice.

 

But the court also left open the possibility that instead of setting up a sports-betting system the state could simply repeal its laws prohibiting the practice. That’s what Lesniak wants to do. (Read more on that here.)

 

Apparently so does Christie. Right after writing that he didn’t want to sidestep the law, Christie proposed doing just that. He wrote that “the time is right to examine the Third Circuit’s opinion carefully and determine if a different approach towards sports wagering would comply with federal law...."

 

But the governor has yet to tell us just what that approach might be.

Chris Christie: If he doesn't like Ray Lesniak's plan for sports betting then he should put forth his own.Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-Ledger 

“Put up or shut up,” said Lesniak, a Democrat from Elizabeth. “He’s had over 60 days to let me know what this other way is. If he doesn’t know by now, he’ll never know.”

The bill passed both houses overwhelmingly. If the legislators simply stuck to their prior votes, the override would pass. However in normal circumstances legislators won’t go against a governor of their own party.

“Put up or shut up." - state Senator Ray Lesniak

But these are not normal circumstances. Three casinos are set to go out of business in the next couple weeks. Lesniak said that about 10,000 people will be losing their jobs. That should put pressure on Christie’s fellow Republicans to provide the votes need to reach the two-thirds majorities need for an override.

 

Besides, what’s the harm in trying?

 

Christie didn’t make that clear in his statement. Monmouth Park is set to go ahead with sports-betting as soon as a bill becomes law. Does that mean the feds would come and arrest the people running the betting?

 

Nope. The law in question, called the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA for short), does not have criminal penalties. It simply states that the sports leagues can go to court and sue to get an injunction against the racetrack.

 

“The state wouldn’t even be involved,” said Lesniak. “I don’t expect we would lose, but if we did no harm, no foul.”

 

There’s a good chance the court case could drag on for months while the betting continued, he said. That would help set a further precedent for legalization. And there's also a good chance the leagues would lose the suit. In the prior case, they conceded that 
"Nothing in the unambiguous text of PASPA requires states to keep prohibitions against sports gambling on their books."

 

The state certainly needs to try something. Among the casinos closing is the multi-billion-dollar Revel, which opened just a couple years ago. At the moment there are no buyers, but sports-betting offers the best way to breathe life into it and the other two casinos that are shutting their doors.

 

“The Revel was not designed for casinos but would be a welcoming location for sports bettors,” he said. “Unlike the average Atlantic City visitor who spends 11 hours in the city, they’d come for long weekends during football season, the Super Bowl and the NCAA championships.”

 

Meanwhile the state’s racetracks could also come back from the brink by offering an attraction outside of racing season. And there are a few Republican senators who have either tracks or horse farms in their districts.

 

So this should be fun for sports fans. It will also be fun for us conservatives. There’s been a big resurgence in interest in what is known as “nullification” among conservatives – the historical practice of states telling the federal government to mind its own damn business. This could be a classic battle along those lines.

 

It's usually liberals who get their knickers in a knot over nullification. Christie is on the wrong side of that battle.

 

Still, maybe he’s got some plan of his own up his sleeve. If so, he should put it on the table. But if Christie's not going to propose anything, then he can hardly object if the Legislature gives it a shot.

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/08/september_showdown_set_to_override_chris_christies_sports-betting_veto_mulshine.html