NJ government shutdown: Racing, sports betting threatened in budget fight

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A little more than two weeks after he marked a new era of legalized sports betting in New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy is now preparing to shut it down at Monmouth Park as Democrats appear likely to miss the Constitutional deadline to pass a budget.


The Murphy administration warned racetracks in a Friday letter that they would have to cease operations at midnight Saturday should he order a government shutdown that could also close state beaches, parks and historical museums.


That order would also leave Atlantic City's casinos unregulated, although those businesses could continue offering gambling and sports betting under threat of "enhanced penalties" should they fail to police themselves properly.

The question is whether Murphy will order a shutdown or keep government open as he and lawmakers continue negotiating the fiscal year 2019 budget.


It now appears likely that the state will miss the Constitutional deadline of June 30 even if a deal is reached. That’s because every bill requires three votes, and the Constitution requires a day between the second and third. If not, a three-fourths majority can approve an emergency vote.

But Democrats would need Republican help to pass an emergency vote. Republicans won’t go along with that unless the budget has “substantial cuts,” Assembly Republican leader Jon Bramnick said Friday.

"We are going to have a technical shutdown," Bramnick said.

Where things are
The administration sent letters Friday to all Atlantic City casino and racetrack owners notifying them of their responsibilities should Murphy order a shutdown.

Despite a 2008 law allowing them to stay open for up to seven days in the event of a shutdown, New Jersey’s racetracks will have to cease operations at midnight tomorrow should Murphy and lawmakers fail to finalize a budget by then, officials with the Attorney General’s office said in the letter.


That would disrupt races scheduled for Sunday as well as sports betting at Monmouth Park, which opened to great fanfare just two weeks ago, when Murphy placed the state's first bet. It also increases pressure on policymakers to reach a deal before their impasse would spark statewide inconvenience and anger.


Frank Zanzuccki, executive director of the New Jersey Racing Commission, wrote in a letter dated June 29 that officials at the Meadowlands, Monmouth Park and Freehold racetracks failed to provide notice to the commission by June 1 that they would like to continue operations, as required by law.

“Therefore, in the event a state of emergency is declared due to the failure to enact a general appropriation by July 1, 2018, all racetrack and off-track wagering facilities must cease all operations at midnight June 30, 2018,” the letter states. “This order shall remain in effect until the state of emergency has been rescinded.”


Representatives for Monmouth Park, the only venue with races scheduled for Sunday, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Sharon Lauchaire, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s office, said the order would also affect sports betting at Monmouth Park.


Casino regulators sent a similar letter to Atlantic City’s casinos, but noted that those businesses had created and filed the necessary “internal controls” to continue conducting gambling and taking sports bets for the first week of a shutdown.


The 2008 law was signed by former Gov. Jon Corzine two years after a shutdown caused New Jersey’s casinos and racetracks to go dark, ruining many residents’ Fourth of July plans and costing millions in lost state revenue and economic activity.

The law allows the facilities to remain open even if the state workers who monitor the gambling are deemed “non-essential” and sent home during a shutdown.

According to the letters sent Friday, however, casinos and racetracks have to come up with alternative plans to regulate and police gaming in the absence of the state monitors, which the racetracks apparently failed to do.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, was surprised to hear of the letters Friday morning after leaving a meeting at Murphy's office.

"They can't do that," Sweeney said. "There's already a law in place. And it was put in place because of the last shutdown."


What's next
Murphy and lawmakers were meeting for a second time Friday.

“We made an offer and we’re coming back to see what they have to say,” Sweeney told reporters. Asked whether he was optimistic a deal was imminent, Sweeney said there’s hope as long as the principals are talking.

If a deal is reached, the Legislature could re-schedule weekend voting that it canceled. It still has sessions planned for Monday.
 
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They actually would have a Week to close up shop if need be....

[FONT=&quot]OPEN (for now): Gambling at casinos and racetracks[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]All of Atlantic City's casinos and the state's horse racing tracks will remain open for at least a week, thanks to a law that was signed after the shutdown 12 years ago.
During the 2006 budget fight, the casinos and tracks closed, costing the state millions of dollars a day. But two years later, then-Gov. Jon Corzine signed a law saying that couldn't happen if a shutdown occurred again. Still, the law says the casinos and tracks will stay open only for the first seven days of a shutdown.
That means, if this battle drags on for more than a week, casinos and tracks will close, including the new sports book at Monmouth Park racetrack.
[/FONT]
 

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All good !!!


Everything should be open and running!


Ten years after plan...............Tax the rich, feed the poor
'Til there are no rich no more?
 

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