Gov. Christie Again Rejects Atlantic City, Casino Aid Package
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Gov. Chris Christie has once again rejected a financial assistance package for Atlantic City and its struggling casinos, vetoing measures that included the changes he demanded when he vetoed them the first time.
The Republican presidential candidate took no action on the three bills by Tuesday's deadline, rendering them rejected in what is known as a "pocket veto."
Christie vetoed the package in November after the Legislature passed it the first time, requesting changes in how some aid was allocated and giving the state more control over when funds would flow to Atlantic City.
He did not immediately explain his reasons for Tuesday's rejection, but speaking last week while campaigning for the GOP presidential nomination in Iowa, Christie said he would have to decide "if in total it makes sense."
That drew immediate scorn from Atlantic City-area elected officials.
"New Jersey has joined 'Alice in Wonderland.' Gov. Christie has vetoed his own bills, bills that he conditionally vetoed after months of silence from the governor," said state Senator Jim Whelan, the former Democratic mayor of Atlantic City. "The Legislature concurred with his version of the bills, and now he is bizarrely vetoing them. Clearly, our 'tell it like it is' governor does not mean what he says."
Democratic state Assemblyman Vincent Mazzeo said Christie has ignored Atlantic City while running for president.
"For 16 months we've debated and discussed this legislation and never once has the governor given his input to one of the biggest issues facing our state," Mazzeo said. "It's becoming more clear every day that the governor's complete and utter lack of ideas defines his abandoned leadership of this state."
Atlantic City officials say the cash-strapped city is desperate for aid; an emergency manager forAtlantic City appointed by Christie said the city could run out of money by early April. At a community rally Monday against a planned state takeover of Atlantic City, Mayor Don Guardian railed against what he termed the fundamental unfairness of the state withholding help from the city, then blaming it for mismanaging its finances.
Christie's veto leaves Atlantic City in an even more dire financial position, and could strengthen the hand of elected officials pushing for a state takeover of the resort. State Senate President Steve Sweeney, a likely Democratic candidate for governor next year, has introduced a bill that would give the state vast authority over Atlantic City, including the right to make most major decisions, and sell off cityassets and land.
The centerpiece of the package that was shot down Tuesday is a bill that would allow the city's eight casinos make payments in lieu of taxes for 15 years. The casinos would get cost certainty, and would be prohibited from appealing their taxes, something they have done with great success in recent years and which has hurt Atlantic City's already perilous finances.
Lawmakers made the changes he requested. The revised bill would require the casinos to make $50 million in additional payments over seven years and would share 13.5 percent of the money collected from the casinos with Atlantic County's government and the city's schools to help prevent tax increases for those entities. It also includes revenue streams other than gambling when calculating how much the casinos owe, which effectively sets a collective minimum of $120 million per year for the eight casinos.
Other bills in the package would have had the $30 million a year that would have continued to fund the soon-to-be-defunct Atlantic City Alliance, which helped market the resort, be held by the state for two years until the city adopts a financial reform package acceptable to the state. The money would have gone straight to the city under the original version of the bill.
A third bill would have redirected casino redevelopment investment taxes toward helping pay down thecity's debt.
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