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"I got it through last year with overwhelming support," he said. Robert Griffin, CEO of Trump Entertainment Resorts and president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, said the trade group is scheduled to discuss the matter Tuesday night. Last year, he said that money currently going to offshore online betting operations could benefit New Jersey. Trump Entertainment Resorts announced plans last year to set up an Internet gambling operation as soon as it becomes legal to do so. The bill says only the Atlantic City casinos could offer Internet gambling in New Jersey, requiring the computer servers to be physically located in Atlantic City to comply with state law mandating that all New Jersey casino gambling occur there. Gamblers would have to set up online wagering accounts with the casinos. The bill also contains a provision intended to gain the support of the state's horse racing tracks, reinstating two-thirds of the subsidies the casinos had to pay to the tracks until last year. The casinos once had to pay $30 million a year to the tracks in return for keeping slot machines out of the tracks. Lesniak's bill would require that Internet betting licensees pay $20 million a year for three years to help increase race purses and help the tracks through a difficult period. Lesniak said if the Internet bill becomes law, giving the casinos a new revenue stream, that would not necessarily make New Jersey lawmakers more likely to approve slot machines for horse tracks. "Those are two separate issues," he said. Internet gambling revenue would be taxed at 10 percent instead of the current 8 percent on traditional casino revenue. The bill also would allocate $100,000 a year from online gambling proceeds to fund programs for compulsive gamblers. People with gambling problems would be able to set limits on how much they could bet or lose within a specific time frame.
[Associated
Press;
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