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TagsAtlantic City in worse shape now than during depths of recession
BY TOM HESTER SR.
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
With Atlantic City's 11 casinos in worse financial shape than they were during the depths of the recession a year ago, the Legislature's Democratic leaders Friday announced that a gaming summit will be held next month to craft solutions for ensuring the long-term viability of New Jersey's struggling gaming and entertainment industries that can by passed by the end of the year.
Sen. Jim Whelan (D-Atlantic), a former Atlantic City mayor, and Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester) will guide the summit Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver (D-Essex) said.
The summit is designed to bring together legislators, industry leaders and policy experts to publicly examine the recommendations of Gov. Chris Christie's Advisory Commission on Gaming, Sports and Entertainment.
The summit's date would coincide with the expected public release of the commission's final report, which had originally been due June 30 but was pushed to Aug. 1.The summit was announced on a day when the state Casino Control Commission released figures that show the casinos reported $286.8 million in win in June, a decrease of 11.1 percent over the same month a year ago.
Results reported to commission show that the casinos won $206.9 million at the slot machines and another $79.9 million at table games in June. Slot revenue fell 9 percent while table game revenues decreased by 16.2 percent.
For the first half of the year, casinos won $1.77 billion, down 8.4 percent from the same period in 2009. Revenue from slot machines was down 8.3 percent and revenue from table games was down 8.7 percent for the six months. Taxable gross revenue fell 10.2 percent to $1.68 billion.
"Our casinos and race tracks are much more than just places for people to go to pass the time and put down a few bucks, they are major economic drivers that cannot be allowed to flounder," Sweeney said. "Billions of dollars in economic activity and thousands of jobs literally hang on this report. No one knows better than Jim Whelan that we must get the pieces together now to go through that plan line by line and craft the legislation we will need to protect this vital industry. The governor's task force may have gotten an extension to write their plan, but we need to give this the priority status its been lacking."
"New Jersey's gaming industry --- whether it be casinos or racetracks --- is the lifeblood of many programs that are vital to senior citizens and people with disabilities, but it is also vital also to our statewide economy through the jobs and economic development it creates," Oliver said. "Yet we also know this industry is facing ever-increasing competition, especially from neighboring states, and the longer we wait to devise solutions the more at risk we put our own gaming industry.''
Sweeney and Oliver said the summit would be an open public hearing to review the commission's work, as its own hearings were not public.
"This summit will be an open and public process that will gather input from everyone who wants to contribute," Oliver said. "This issue is too important to this state and needs a full public airing."
"The governor should be applauded for forming this commission, but now we need to provide the full disclosure that's been lacking over the past five months," Sweeney said. "We need to lift the veil of secrecy that surrounded the commission's work."
Sweeney, who will sit on the summit, said Whelan will help lead the talks because of his deep knowledge of the industry through his role as chairman of the Senate's gaming committee and his also being former mayor of Atlantic City.
In addition, Sweeney named Senators Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen) and Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May) to the panel.
Oliver, who will also join the summit, said she named Burzichelli because he has been a leader on the issue for years and is chairman of the lower house's Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee.
Also named to the sit on the summit were Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (D-Essex), Assemblywoman Connie Wagner (D-Bergen) and Assembly Tourism and Arts Chairman Matthew W. Milam (D-Cape May).
Revenues at the casinos have been decreasing steadily due to the effects of the recession and new competition from out-of-state. New Jersey's horse-racing industry similarly has been hit hard in recent years, despite the early signs of success from Monmouth Park's truncated meet schedule this season.
Tax receipts from New Jersey's gaming industry largely go to supporting state programs that benefit senior citizens.
After adjustments and a deduction for promotional gaming credits, the casinos paid $20.1 million on taxable gross revenue of $251.7 million in June. That money, 8 percent of taxable gross revenue, goes into the Casino Revenue Fund, which pays for programs that benefit senior citizens and people with disabilities.
In addition, the casinos incurred another $3.6 million in reinvestment obligations. They are required to reinvest 1.25 percent of gross revenues in projects approved by the state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.
Win, or casino revenue, is the net amount of money won by casinos. It is not profit.
