Raj Mukherji Says Three North Jersey Casinos Would Create 20,000 New Permanent Jobs
Several state lawmakers now want 3 casinos in North Jersey, despite recent arguments by opponents of the North Jersey that even one casino would mean the end of Atlantic City as a viable gaming destination.
The original bill (ACR141) had called for a single casino in the Meadowlands. Then a bill last summmer (ABR178) called for two casinos in the North Jersey area: one in the Meadowlands and the other in Jersey City. Now, Democratic State Assembly members Ralph Caputo, Valerie Vainieri Huttle, and Raj Mukherji are calling for three casinos.
3 Assembly Members’ Plan
Under the plan by Caputo, Vainieri Huttle, and Mukherji, the counties of Essex, Bergen, and Hudson would each receive a casino. Coincidentally, those are the three counties which elected the three Assembly members to office. The lawmakers say the revenues collected by the state from those three casinos could be used to redevelop Atlantic City, which has been hit by a steep decline in gaming revenues over the past 9 years.
Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (D-Essex), who once worked as a casino executive, told a gathered assembly, “We can’t sit by any longer. The history of Atlantic City is one I was part of. The business has changed. We’ve had tremendous competition from our neighboring states….If you don’t adapt, you become extinct and you become a dinosaur.”
Atlantic City Monopoly
Since casino gambling was approved in New Jersey in 1976, Atlantic City has held a casino monopoly. As late as 2006, few in the state assumed casinos would ever need to exist anywhere outside the Boardwalk city. The Global Recession began the decline, while Hurricane Katrina hurt a recovery effort. In February 2011, Gov. Chris Christie fended off the discussion of a North Jersey casino by putting a 5-year moratorium on the discussion, giving the city 5 years to make reforms and stage a turnaround. Things have gone from bad to dismal in the first 4 of those 5 years.
Many signs point to the decline of Atlantic City as a viable casino city. In the peak year of 2006, Atlantic City reported $5.4 billion in revenues. In 2014, after four of its casinos closed, Atlantic City had a mere $2.4 billion in revenues. Those four casino closings represent one-third of the entire casino establishments in the city.
The Fall of Gambling
One of the bankrupt establishments, Revel Casino, was built for $2.4 billion in 2012. This spring, the same property sold for a mere $82 million–roughly 3% of its original value.
Assemblyman Caputo says he has been ahead of the curve on the issue, but it is time for New Jerseyans to catch up. Caputo said this week, “I’ve been fighting for this for six or seven years. When I started this effort, people thought it was folly. This has become a reality.”
Vote in 2015 or 2016?
When a vote on the new bill might take place is up for discussion. The three Assembly members want a vote in November. For that to happen, the Assembly would need to pass a referendum by a three-fifths majority by this August.
State Senate President Steve Sweeney seems reluctant to have the proposal go up for a vote this year, though. Perhaps because of Christie’s moratorium or perhaps because he senses the time isn’t right for a consensus to be built, Sweeney wants to postpone the vote until next year.
Controversial Decisions Still Await
The idea of building one casino outside of Atlantic City is going to be controversial. Chris Brown, a State Senator from the Atlantic City area, diamtrically opposes the idea of any casinos outside of Atlantic City. Brown said last week, “We’re at a point where we’re just moving money around. All you’re doing is cannibalizing the market you already have.”
Paul Sarlo’s Plan
Even those who support casinos outside of the Jersey Shore might not agree to three casinos. State Senator Paul Sarlo said, “I believe the expansion should be limited to two casinos in North Jersey that are at least 100 miles from Atlantic City so we don’t oversaturate the market.”
Sarlo’s idea might be sounder. Casino executives have to invest billions of dollars in a Meadowlands casino and they might be less willing to invest if they have built-in competition from other North Jersey casinos. Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas Sands chairman, said he would be interested in a North Jersey casino, due to its proximity to New York City, but he also stipulated it depended on the number of casinos which would be built.
Raj Mukherji’s Plan
Raj Mukherji, the Hudson County Assemblyman, points to the most compelling reason for the state to approve 3 licenses in the northern part of the state. At a press conference this week, Raj Mukherji said that 3 north Jersey casinos would create 20,000 new casino jobs, along with 30,000 indirectly-related jobs for those who construct such buildings. Mukherji told the assembled journalists, “Jobs, jobs, jobs. Jobs-job-job-job-jobs, jobs, jobs.“
