TRENTON – A package of bills sponsored by Senate Democrats to help breathe new life into New Jersey’s ailing casinos and horse race tracks was approved by the full Senate today. The bills, the result of Statewide hearings held on issues pertaining to the gaming and wagering economic sectors earlier this year, are intended to bolster economic activity and maintain competitiveness for our gaming industries, which are facing more and more competition from across State lines.
“Unless we take the necessary steps to bring our casinos and horse tracks into profitability and self-sufficiency, we’re going to lose these economic engines and all the benefits they bring to our State,” said Senator Jim Whelan, D-Atlantic, the co-chair of the Legislative Gaming Summit and a sponsor on many of the bills. “This would be a devastating blow to New Jersey’s economic future, and it’s something we cannot allow to happen. Through the measures approved today, and additional bills which I expect to move shortly, we will be able to give our gaming and wagering industries a fighting chance.”