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Trenton’s committee members often hit a whole spectrum of tones in political debate, from quiet agreement to red-faced protest by angry officials who decide shouting might solve their disagreements over policy.

Though the hallways of the statehouse echo occasionally with some amateur dramatics, much of the shouting occurs behind closed doors.

But two local lawmakers on different sides of the political divide sparred Thursday over whether angry public exchanges are justified or just distracting.

As a pair of bills on Atlantic City skated into committee laden with amendments Thursday, Assemblyman Vince Polistina, R-Atlantic, chose to make the kind of statement often privately voiced by legislators, only this time more public.

One of the bills, drafted by Gov. Chris Christie’s office, would ease casino regulations. A second bill written by majority-party Democrats would create a state-controlled district around Atlantic City’s chief tourism sites.

Polistina objected to both of them.

“This is not how laws should be made,” he said, after legislative aides handed him a stack of amendments on the district bill at 3:30 p.m. — more than an hour after the committee had started its meeting.

When Assemblyman John Burzichelli, the committee chair, waived in a last-minute resolution that would create a new commission to study future gaming options in Bergen County, allowing the bill to be heard without the required public notice, Polistina responded by asking to waive in another bill to shrink the size of the Casino Control Commission.

And when that request was denied, Polistina used a prop — in this case, a printout of a strongly-worded resolution passed by Atlantic City council — to illustrate local opposition to the state legislators’ proposals.

He ended up voting against both of the bills on Atlantic City, saying the Democrats had “botched the process.”

Within two hours, the Atlantic County Democrats put out a release decrying his “theatrics.”

“Not having offered any plan of his own and rather than working with the bills’ sponsors, Polistina has been on the sidelines of major legislation impacting our area,” said Pat D’Arcy, county party chair.

By Friday, Keith Davis, Atlantic County Republican party chair, fired back: “Assemblyman Polistina has been substantive and focused on creating new jobs in Atlantic City. It’s time for Senator Whelan to stop his theatrics and be a leader which is something that has eluded him for the past 30 years he’s received a government paycheck.”

Polistina declined to respond to D’Arcy’s characterization. “I won’t participate in these petty personal attacks,” he said. “Hundreds of thousands of people’s livelihoods are riding on these changes. That’s why I said what I did.”

Whelan likewise would not repeat D’Arcy’s comment: Asked if he thought Polistina had indulged in theatrics, Whelan said, “I don’t know what to call it.”

Polistina has been widely rumored to be considering a run for Whelan’s seat in next November’s legislative elections, but has not declared, while Whelan has said he hopes to keep all campaigning until much later next year.

Beyond the back-and-forth, both legislators had strong words on whether the system of writing bills, based on deliberative discussion, could function if last-minute major edits were constantly made to historic pieces of legislation.

The way Whelan saw it, Republican claims of surprise as bills evolved were disingenuous. “We’ve been working on casino deregulation for 20 months,” Whelan did say. “On the other bill, we’re abiding by the governor’s wishes to see change by next July. So amendments arrive at the last minute, and that’s how the process works — no one should act surprised.”

But Polistina argued that the committee process was designed exactly for debate, not speed-reading and speed-passage of amendments.

In a letter to Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver sent Wednesday, he said, “There is no practical way the committee, or more importantly the public or stakeholders, will be able to digest these changes in less than 24 hours.”

In a statehouse where thorny discussions take place more often behind closed doors, Polistina said he took his only shot to protest the process in public before the bills’ passage.

“The fact is, I said what I said in the back room and in public,” Polistina said. “That’s what’s unusual.”

* * *

Barnegat Bay took center stage Thursday and Friday, as Christie took a stronger stance on protecting the 30-mile-long body of water.

The bay includes canals and a creek that have been heavily affected by fertilizer runoff and the effects of the adjacent Oyster Creek nuclear plant.

Christie’s plan includes shutting the Oyster Creek nuclear plant in Lacey in 2019, 10 years earlier than operators Exelon had previously planned.

Advocates for the bay say they expect him now to sign the most restrictive fertilizer legislation in the nation, along with creating a new $110 million fund to fix existing problems.

* * *

Think you know where government subsidy program funds go? Think again.

According to a national study of how states track and report subsidy programs of all sorts, New Jersey received a D grade.

“With states being forced to make painful budget decisions, taxpayers expect economic development spending to be fair and transparent,” said Greg LeRoy, director of Good Jobs First, a nonpartisan research center that ran the comparison. “Claims that sunshine would hurt a state’s business climate have been discredited, trumped by people’s rising expectations about government information being online.”

People and Power by Juliet Fletcher, The Press of Atlantic City’s Statehouse Bureau reporter, appears in print every Sunday. Fletcher can be reached at JFletcher@pressofac.com.

The US created a law back in 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, that was in direct violation of trade agreements with other countries. The US has heard from the World Trade Organization regarding the violations, but lawmakers have done nothing to come into compliance.

The state of New Jersey is set to become the first state to regulate online gambling, and they almost made the same mistake the federal government made back in 2006. Legislator Raymond Lesniak proposed online gambling legislation that would have allowed licensed online sites in New Jersey to accept customers from foreign countries.

Late this week, Lesniak amended his bill to exclude foreign customers. The lawmakers claims he did not want a problem with the WTO, and that his legislation would still bring millions of dollars in revenue. The Senate has already approved the Internet gaming bill, and the New Jersey Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee did the same on Thursday.

New Jersey is hoping to beat California, Maryland, and Florida into the online gambling industry. All four states have lawmakers pushing plans for Internet wagering, with California and New Jersey being farthest along the path.

In New Jersey, Lesniak saw online gambling as a way to help the struggling Atlantic City casino industry. Another bill proposed and passed on Thursday would authorize sports betting in New Jersey. This law could become controversial due to federal laws regarding sports wagering.

With the online gambling bill, online sites will only be allowed to offer their services to New Jersey residents. Customers from out of the state or another country would be excluded from playing at these sites.

On a federal level, Senator Harry Reid is attempting to pass an Internet poker bill that would allow casinos that have been open for over five years to apply for Internet gaming licenses in their state. Individual states would have the option to opt out of Reid’s legislation.

December 10, 2010
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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AGA supports Reid online poker bill

10 December 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. — (PRESS RELEASE) — The American Gaming Association (AGA) supports Sen. Harry Reid’s efforts to legalize online poker in the United States.

“This is tough law-and-order legislation that puts in place a solid regulatory framework and legal oversight that will prevent illegal activity and protect the estimated 15 million Americans who already are playing poker online,” said Frank Fahrenkopf, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association. “Ours is a unique industry in that it wants tough regulatory control and strict law enforcement oversight, which ensures the integrity of our business and protects consumers. Current online gambling laws do not provide these safeguards, leaving players and the system open to fraud, cheating and other illegal acts.”

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INDIANAPOLIS – State gambling officials will meet next week with a coalition of non-profit groups in Fort Wayne concerned about the groups see as overly burdensome charity gaming regulations.

Ernest Yelton, Indiana Gaming Commission executive director, said his agency is trying to respond to complaints from the area but “my personal feeling is I don’t think they want to be regulated.”

Yelton specifically noted SCAN – Stop Child Abuse and Neglect – as doing marvelous work and having a great charity gambling event in its annual duck race. But he said there are regulations, and “we can never seem to satisfy them.”

The issue came up at a State Budget Committee meeting when Rep. Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale, said he has received calls complaining about some charity gambling issues.

He and Rep. Win Moses, D-Fort Wayne, defended the groups as good organizations that are feeling squeezed by the rules and regulations.

“It isn’t that they don’t want to be regulated,” Moses said. “A process that has been very good for Fort Wayne is breaking down. I encourage you take a more open view.”

In 2009, SCAN and other groups successfully pushed for a change that allowed its employees to work on charitable gambling events. Now the group says having to gather names, addresses and driver’s license numbers of volunteers who sell the ducks for the group’s annual fundraiser is hurting the event.

That’s because businesses such as banks that previously helped sell the ducks don’t want to hand over the information on their employees.

“We made a good-faith effort last year to get them, but businesses do not want to give out personal information,” said Rachel Tobin-Smith, executive director of SCAN.

Yelton seemed offended that Moses would question the safety of the personal information, noting he has personal financial records for Donald Trump in his offices that are safe and secure.

One of the reasons for this regulation is to ensure that organizations are not hiring professional operators to run charity gambling events.

SCAN isn’t the only non-profit that’s unhappy. A coalition of non-profits has formed to discuss the issue. The group includes former state representative Matt Bell, a board member of the Early Childhood Alliance and somewhat of an expert on charity gambling issues.

He said most changes must be made by the legislature but a few could be handled by the Indiana Gaming Commission.

A few problems Bell cited include:

•Counting revenue from an entire event as charity gambling revenue. He said some groups conduct large galas that raise $100,000. But if there is a $5,000 raffle during the event, all revenue from the event is counted.

That hurts for two reasons. First, it increases the group’s licensing fee the next year because the fee is based on charity gaming revenue. And it prohibits groups from spending the money on salaries, a major expense.

•Not allowing credit cards to be used. This is a policy statement by the General Assembly to discourage gambling on credit. But Bell noted there are some events in which an expensive car is raffled where participants want to pay by credit card and can’t.

•Having to keep gambling revenue in a separate bank account.

“Our charity gaming laws are written to keep bad actors out, and because of that there is a lot of regulation and fair amount of paperwork and reporting and auditing,” Bell said. “Some of the groups are saying this is beginning to choke their ability to do these events.”

nkelly@jg.net

On Thursday, The New Jersey Assembly Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee passed a bill that would allow Atlantic City casinos to offer online gambling internationally and to state residents.

New Jersey is now one step closer to becoming the first state to offer licensed, intra-state online gaming, after the State Senate passed bill S-490 by a majority of 29-5 on Nov. 22.

Now it must be passed by the entire New Jersey State Assembly before it is signed into law by Governor Chris Christie. The bill, which was authored by Senator Raymond Lesniak, could be up for a full assembly vote as early as next week.

The legislation authorizes the online offering of games such as poker, blackjack, craps, slots, roulette, baccarat, and pai gow.

A study conducted by the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) has estimated that a New Jersey intra-state gambling system could raise up to $250 million in revenue and bring in $55 million in taxes.