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Meadowlands
Getting Slot Machines?
It is
no surprise that the race tracks in
New Jersey
want slot machines. They have wanted
them for years. However, the state’s
casinos have not been willing to give up
that exclusive form of gambling and so
they have paid them a stipend every year
to support them. They said that as long
as they paid the tracks to not have slot
machines there was no reason for them to
bring them in.
However, the tracks have long contended
that the amount of money that the
casinos pay them is not nearly as much
as they could make by bringing in their
own slot machines. They contend that
they could bring in much more if they
offered their own, and over the years
they have found various people to
support that notion – but still have
been unable to get the state to allow
them to offer their own slot machines.
But
now Assemblyman Ralph Caputo thinks that
it is time to give them their slot
machines. He says that with the economy
doing as poorly as it is, they need to
allow the tracks to bring in the slot
machines so that they can start bringing
in additional revenue. He contends that
this will not hurt the casinos and can
only help the state. The new legislation
that he and several others have filed
would allow the Meadowlands to bring in
video lottery machines that are very
similar to slot machines.
The
bill asks for the state’s residents to
vote on it, instead of leaving it up to
the casinos – who are bound to fight it.
They contend that they are already
facing such fierce competition from
other states that they should not have
to contend with it within their state as
well. Caputo thinks that they will be an
asset to the state instead of a problem
and that it is time for them to step up
and be a “strong part of
New Jersey’s
economy.”
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