Atlantic City: Keep Casinos Open

Last year, this casino city experienced a three-day shutdown of casinos because of a budget issue. The cost of this shutdown was estimated to be around $55 million. Quite understandably, lawmakers in the state have been trying to look for ways to prevent this event from happening again.

Quite recently, a bill was proposed that would allow casinos in the city to continue their operations in the event that a shutdown occurs again. While the bill seemed pretty much reasonable, the state Office of Legislative Services has announced that the bill is unconstitutional. How so? According to Peter J. Kelly, the principal counsel for OLS, ”The provisions of the proposed law are inconsistent with the requirements of the constitution’s appropriations clause and, therefore, constitutionally ineffective.”

In simpler terms, the OLS is saying that the law violates the New Jersey budget requirements. The bill features a special casino fund where the salary of state gambling inspectors would come from, in the event of a shutdown. Casinos in Atlantic City cannot operate without the inspectors. However, it is quite clear where the OLS stands at this point. As such, proponents of the bill are saying that in the end, the Supreme Court of New Jersey may have to decide on the issue.

So how does this bit of news affect gambling enthusiasts? Personally I think that if you can stand not having casinos to go to for several days then there will be no problem. However, if a shutdown occurs for a prolonged period, then I guess gambling enthusiasts would be more than thankful for the bill. Only time will tell which way the wind would blow regarding this bill, though.