New Jersey State Senate approves Atlantic City casino relief measures

The New Jersey State Senate reportedly passed a piece of legislation yesterday that would grant a series of temporary and permanent tax breaks to the state’s casinos as they endeavor to recover from the economic slowdown caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

According to a Monday report from The Press of Atlantic City newspaper, the 40-member body also approved a separate measure that would allow local casinos to apply for interest-free loans in lieu of paying city and county property taxes for the duration of their coronavirus-related shutdowns.

Rapid revival:

The Press of Atlantic City reported that the pair of proposals were first floated early last month and have been designed to help one of New Jersey’s largest generators of tax to quickly recover once their venues are allowed to re-open. If ratified, the newspaper predicted that both propositions would likely result in an annual reduction of about $93 million for the state’s Casino Reinvestment Development Authority.

Duty diminution:

Known as S2400, the former piece of legislation reportedly calls on the amount of tax casinos in Atlantic City are required to pay be reduced for one full year after their re-openings. The measure purportedly moreover envisions eliminating hotel room fees until the end of December, deferring a variety of local licensing fees and permanently allowing such venues to deduct provisional gaming credits and coupons from their taxable gross gaming revenues.

Bi-partisan backing:

The Press of Atlantic City reported that this proposal was introduced by Democratic New Jersey State Senator Steve Sweeney and Republican counterpart Chris Brown (pictured) and furthermore asks that some $100 million in federal cash be allocated to the state’s Economic Development Authority so as to assist small businesses.

Reportedly read a statement from 55-year-old Brown…

“My concern has been and remains with the families who overnight found themselves unemployed and left to deal with a broken unemployment system for the last three months. Working in a bi-partisan manner, we took a step today toward saving 27,000 casino jobs while also assisting our small businesses so we can put our Atlantic County families back to work.”

Significant shutdown:

The newspaper reported that the nine casinos in Atlantic City have been closed since March 16 while New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has yet to announce an official re-opening date despite a widespread belief that this could come as early as next month.

The Press of Atlantic City closed by reporting that both of the recently-passed propositions are now set to be sent for consideration by the 80-seat New Jersey General Assembly with hearings into their individual validity possibly beginning from as early as Thursday.