Just days following a proposed amendment to the New Jersey State Constitution proposed in the State Senate and as detailed here , the New Jersey Assembly offered its own proposed Amendment to the Constitution which would also authorize up to two additional casinos in North Jersey.
Both Amendments propose no more the two casinos, each located in different counties and outside a 75 mile radius of Atlantic City. The 75 mile radius restriction eliminates Monmouth Park Racetrack as a possible site for casino expansion.
The primary differences are as follows;
- Applicant eligibility: The Assembly version of the proposed amendment allows one of the two licenses to be awarded to an applicant with no current ownership or ties to an existing Atlantic City casino. The Senate version of the amendment limits eligibility to (1) a currently licensed Atlantic City casino operating as of December 11, 2015; or (2) any person licensed as a principal owner (yet undefined) of a holder of a New Jersey casino license that was operating a casino which was conducting gambling on December 11, 2015 if that principal owner also holds a valid license to own and operate a casino in another jurisdiction with licensing standards similar to those in New Jersey. The Assembly version only applies the Senate version’s proposed eligibility requirements to the “initial license.” The current Atlantic City casino tie-in eligibility requirement presumably does not apply to the second license awarded.
- Tax Allocation to Atlantic City. The Assembly version of the proposed Constitutional Amendment allocates 35% of state tax revenuers from the two new casinos for purposes if the recovery, stabilization or improvement of Atlantic City. The Senate version allocate 49% of such tax revenue for the recovery, stabilization or improvement of Atlantic City.
The Senate and Assembly must agree on an identical version of the proposed Amendment which would have to be approved with 3/5 votes by both houses of the NJ Legislature or majority votes, twice over two years. The votes have to be completed at least 90 days before going on the ballot of a state-wide referendum to amend the NJ State Constitution.