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2/9/10 - New Jersey Senator Ray Lesniak's legislative proposal to permit intrastate Internet versions of gambling activities currently allowed in Atlantic City casinos has progressed successfully through committee and will soon be debated in the state Senate.
If passed, the new law will expand the range of Internet gambling presently allowed in New Jersey in terms of federal exceptions for online horseracing. The state currently offers wagering on horse races to state residents through 4NJbets.com.
Lesniak has proposed that the new intrastate Internet gaming be regulated by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, which would establish a Division of Internet Wagering to oversee operations and licensing.
In related news, the Hawaiian media is reporting that moves are afoot to establish limited and strictly controlled casino gambling in the state. No need to wait you can just bet on sports from your own home now.
Representative Jon Riki Karamatsu's House Bill 2759 is currently on its way to the state House Judiciary Committee and proposes allowing casinos, provided that 80 percent of [tax] revenues are deployed to benefit domestic communities and 20 percent is paid into the state's general budget coffers.
Last Friday the bill enjoyed a remarkably easy passage through the full chamber and was carried by a vote of 40 to 9. The state's House Judiciary and Consumer Protection Committee had earlier approved a related House Bill 2251 which permits the establishment of a gaming commission with powers to issue a single licence of no more than 5 years duration to a casino operator on the island state. The bill also carries strict requirements regarding the exclusion of underaged and problem gamblers, and makes provision for taxation.
In company with a number of other American states, Hawaii has been seeking new sources of tax income to bolster ailing state finances. These efforts have also involved proposals for the introduction of a state lottery.
