NJ lawmaker proposes racetrack expansion

The official wants to turn racetracks into racinos.

US.- Senator Joe Pennacchio, R-Passaic, formally re-introduced its proposal to expand gaming in the state by turning racetracks into racinos. Under his proposal, more than half of the revenue would of directly to the public worker pension system.

“For years, we’ve urged for the creation of dedicated revenue streams to shore up our public pension systems, and I commend the Governor for supporting this approach as a way to  address one of the state’s most pressing fiscal issues,” said Pennacchio in a statement. He also explained that they can take it one step further and open the door to the possibility of establishing racinos, which would also create a substantial new source of revenues for pensions, boost the casino industry and support the financial recovery of Atlantic City.

According to NorthJersey, approximately 60 percent of the revenue would go directly to the public worker pension system, whilst 30 percent would be dedicated to the consortium that operates Atlantic City casinos, 7 to improve the city and the remaining 3 percent would support New Jersey’s equine industry. “The success of racinos in the State of New York has shown that this is a model that works,” Pennacchio said.

“The nine racinos in New York generate more tax revenues than all of the Atlantic City and Las Vegas casinos combined. Allowing racinos in New Jersey would give us a chance to generate hundreds of millions of dollars more annually to support our underfunded pension systems, without raising taxes or diverting funds from any other programs or services. This new ‘found money’ would make a huge impact on the long term viability of the state pension fund. Quite simply, this is a proposal that we can no longer afford to ignore, and it deserves to be part of this year’s budget discussions,” he added.