Sports Betting.JPG

A view of a sports betting parlor in Dover, Del.

(Associated Press file photo)

TRENTON — Less than a week after the U.S. Supreme Court rebuffed New Jersey's years-long attempt to legalize sports betting, the state Legislature passed a bill today that could still pave the way for sports wagering at casinos and horse-racing tracks.

State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), the measure's main sponsor, said such gambling is key to helping revive Atlantic City and New Jersey's struggling racetracks.

The bill (S2250/A3476) cleared the state Senate by a vote of 38-1. The Assembly passed it, 63-6-2.

"We are in desperate need of innovative ideas to combat the continues downturn in New Jersey's gaming industry in both Atlantic City and at our racetracks," said Assemblyman Al Caputo (D-Essex), another sponsor and chairman of the Assembly's tourism and gaming committee. "This is an opportunity to kick-start this industry in a way that is unprecedented along the East Coast and generate substantial revenue for our state as a whole."

New Jerseyans voted in 2011 to approve legalized sports wagering, and Gov. Chris Christie signed it into law the following year.

But a group of sports organizations — the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, and the National Hockey League — sued the state to block the move, saying it would harm the integrity of their sports.

They argued that New Jersey's actions violated a 1992 federal law called the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which prevents states from licensing or regulating sports betting — except for Nevada, Delaware, Montana, and Oregon.

After two federal courts sided with the sports leagues, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear New Jersey's appeal.

Gov. Chris Christie, a proponent of legalized sports betting, said it was time for the state to "move on."

But Lesniak said he wasn't done fighting. He introduced the bill to circumvent the federal law, noting that the act prevents the state only from licensing and regulating sports betting.

He said the U.S. Justice Department wrote in its legal briefs that the federal law does not "obligate New Jersey to leave in place the state-law prohibitions against sports gambling that it had chosen to adopt prior" to the law's adoption.

Thus, this measure would repeal old state laws barring sports betting in New Jersey — and allow casinos and racetracks to open up wagering operations that do not require state regulation.

"The purpose is to get sports betting going at our casinos and racetracks as soon as possible without interference from the federal government or anyone else," Lesniak said today.

He added that he's "pretty confident" the U.S. Justice Department won't interfere. Lesniak said he hopes to have the law in place so Monmouth Park, a horse-racing track in Oceanport, can begin offering sports betting in September, in time for the NFL season.

It's unclear if Christie, a Republican, will sign the bill into law. Spokesmen for Christie's office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Star-Ledger staff writer Matt Friedman contributed to this report.

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