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NJ Lawmakers Give Online Gambling 5 More Years
New legislature is often the reason why some states change their stance on online casinos and betting. It was such legislature that prompted New Jersey to change its stance on online gaming.
Recently, the state of NJ has voted on a new piece of legislation that would allow online betting and gaming, in general, to exist for another five years. The decision has many industry officials baffled as the original bill was to give online gaming a 10-year term.
A Sudden Shift in Legislature Has Industry Officials Scratching Their Heads
The state’s lawmakers have the future of online gaming in their hands as they propose bills and make them legal or not. The state of Jersey has been quite successful when it comes to the adoption of laws that legalize online gaming.
These lawmakers were also working on another proposed bill that was supposed to give operators a term of another 10 years. However, everything changed on Wednesday, when the lawmakers decided to narrow down that period to just 2 years. This was a move that caused a reaction from casino business groups and their political allies which prompted another solution to be adopted.
In other words, the lawmakers decided on expanding the term to 5 years. This change came out of the blue, and there wasn’t an explanation for it. Some side with the lawmakers on this one, while others are still scratching their heads at the unexpected decision.
The Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey has taken sides with the lawmakers and its officials have stated that a 5-year term for reauthorizing online gaming operators makes more sense than doing the same process in just two years.
Other casino and political representatives speculated that this move was done to give the state leverage for future taxation. In other words, the lawmakers did this so they could tax casinos more in the coming years. Currently, the tax rate is 13% for online sports betting, 15% for other forms of online gaming and people betting in person get an 8% tax on their winnings.
Conclusion
The lawmakers of New Jersey recently proposed a law on online gaming reauthorization with a 10-year term which they cut down to two years only to get a reaction from casino businesses and politicians to increase the reauthorization term to five years. It’s a move that has everyone scratching their heads.
