Thursday, February 7, 2013

UPDATED: Online gambling bill remains on Governor Christie's desk

Governor Christie was asked today about what his decision is about the online gaming bill on his desk, which is due tomorrow.

?Haven?t made it yet,? Christie told my colleague Melissa Hayes and other reporters. ?My due date is tomorrow. My homework is due tomorrow. I?ll turn it in tomorrow. I was never a guy who turned in my homework early, so I?ll turn in my homework tomorrow.?

?I have thoughts for and thoughts against that,? Christie added. ?I have to reconcile those, and I will before I turn my homework in. I won?t do it before then.?

The governor has a function in Atlantic City tonight. If he was going to sign the bill, that might have seemed like a good place and time to announce it. On the other hand, the event has nothing to do with gambling ? it?s agriculture-related.

Another note: While the deadline to sign is noon, Christie tends to release announcements of veto/sign decisions in bunches, and he tends to do so late in the workday. So this drama could go right to the wire.

Meanwhile, Michael Frawley, chief executive of the Atlantic Club, has stepped forward to offer his advice for Christie: sign the bill.

Frawley tells the Associated Press that the expected addition of high-tech, high-paying jobs from implementation of online gaming means that the bill is ?much more than just someone sitting in their living room with a computer.?

The Atlantic Club happens to be the casino that may be on the verge of being bought by Rational Group, parent company of online poker sites PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. As the article notes, it?s not clear if that bid will remain on the table should Christie veto the online poker bill.

Also, Parry Aftab ? an attorney and founder of the Wired Safety group, is backing the online gaming bill in spite of initial reservations that were similar to Christie?s in terms of concerns about children getting involved in gambling due to legalization.

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Source: http://blog.northjersey.com/meadowlandsmatters/4905/online-gambling-bill-remains-on-governor-christies-desk/

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