Press of Atlantic City Editorial
CASINO SHUTDOWNS:
Avoiding a crisis
June 14, 2007
Let's keep this as simple as possible.
No one wants Atlantic City's casinos to shut down again because legislators in Trenton can't come up with a state budget.
The problem is that for the casinos to operate, state regulators have to be on the job. Without a state budget last July, only "essential" state workers could be paid; therefore, casino regulators couldn't work and neither could the casinos. That mess cost the casinos, their employees and the state treasury millions of dollars.
The solution: Find a way to pay the regulators if another crisis develops.
There are two competing ideas in Trenton on how to accomplish this.
One method, being pushed by state Sen. James "Sonny" McCullough, R-Atlantic, involves amending the state constitution to reclassify state gaming inspectors and other regulators as essential employees — like State Police or corrections officers — and altering the way
casino regulators are funded. The move would require the backing of three-fifths of the Legislature before it could be put on the ballot for voters statewide to consider. The deadline to get such an amendment on this November's ballot would be Aug. 1.
The second method involves tweaking through legislation how money is made available to pay regulators in an emergency.
Sorry Sonny, but the simplest solution is the legislation that the Assembly approved this week in an 80-0 vote.
McCullough, after consulting with the state Office of Legislative Services, argues that the legislative approach will violate funding requirements in the state constitution.
But co-sponsors of the bill — including Assemblymen Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, James Whelan, D-Atlantic, and Frank Blee, R-Atlantic — say that the unanimous vote is evidence that the plan has merit. They say supporters are willing to work with the attorney general and governor to make sure the proposal works under
the constitution.
The legislation itself points out that casino regulation is funded entirely through revenue from the casino industry, which is deposited into the Casino Control Fund and not mingled with any other funds. It says the Legislature has the authority under the state constitution to
make that money available to pay casino regulators in the event that the usual process for allocating the funds — the state budget — has not been passed by its July 1 deadline.
The legislation is the most direct and efficient way of protecting an industry that is vital to the state's economy from the fallout from political battles in Trenton.
The ultimate solution, of course, is for the Legislature to make sure that the budget is passed each year in an orderly manner that does not bring state government to a grinding halt. Sounds simple, doesn't it?
