Legislative leaders spar over North Jersey casinos

TRENTON - Senate President Stephen Sweeney on Thursday pledged to hold a vote next week on his proposed constitutional amendment to expand gaming to North Jersey, even as he remains deadlocked with the top Assembly Democrat in a debate overshadowed by gubernatorial politics.

"I'm going to put my money where my mouth is," Sweeney (D., Gloucester) told reporters in his Statehouse office, adding that he was certain his bill would pass the Senate.

He dared Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D., Hudson) to post his own, different bill for a vote.

"Put his bill up or put my bill up," Sweeney said. "But don't block us from . . . missing an opportunity that would be tragic at this point."

He added, "The Assembly leadership has moved the goalposts over and over on this."

The leaders agree that there should be two new casinos, each in a separate county. The casinos are expected to generate $5 billion in investment and thousands of jobs.

Prieto's proposal differs from Sweeney's in two key areas: the amount of revenue generated by new casinos that would be directed to Atlantic City for nongaming development, and licensing requirements for new operators.

Sweeney, who notes that his position on gaming is unpopular in parts of South Jersey, wants more revenue for Atlantic City, where four casinos closed and thousands of workers lost jobs in 2014. He also wants to limit the potential pool of North Jersey casino operators to those who have a license in Atlantic City, because, he says, they've already invested in New Jersey.

Sweeney, a union ironworker by trade, said he also objects to outside operators whose casinos aren't unionized.

Prieto's bill would allow one of the new operators to be an outsider who doesn't hold a license in Atlantic City.

Potential investors "want something that is free and open to enterprise," Prieto said Thursday. Otherwise, he warned, there would be a campaign against any gaming amendment, which would require voter approval.

The increasingly bitter fight over casino expansion has unfolded in newspaper commentaries and TV interviews, as Sweeney and Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop continue their shadow campaigns for the 2017 Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Fulop has even challenged Sweeney to a debate on the issue, an invitation Sweeney dismissed as "manufactured theatrics."

Fulop's key backer in the debate is Prieto, who is also Democratic chairman of the Hudson County Democratic Organization. The billionaire investor Paul Fireman has said he wants to build a luxury casino resort and hotel in Jersey City.

Sweeney's comments to reporters "are exactly what's wrong with politics in this state and politics in this country," Fulop said Thursday evening.

"It shouldn't be about my way or the highway; it should be about coming together and compromising," he said. "That means between the Senate and Assembly as much as between Democrats and Republicans."

While Sweeney's plan may have support in the Senate, Fulop noted that big players like Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Paterson Mayor Joey Torres support Prieto's bill.

To get an amendment on November's ballot, the Legislature would need to pass the same bill either with a simple majority both this session, which ends Monday, and next, or once with a three-fifths majority vote.

Compromise isn't coming easily. Sweeney on Thursday accused Prieto and Fulop of finding more and more excuses to block his bill.

The Senate president credited Prieto with pointing out that an Atlantic City operator could potentially sit on a license to stifle competition in North Jersey. Sweeney amended his bill to prevent such a scenario.

Both Democrats say they have compromised in other areas. For example, Prieto first wanted three casinos, Sweeney one. They arrived at two.

Fulop says he doesn't think Atlantic City operators would build first-rate casinos in North Jersey, even as Sweeney says he wants just that.

The restriction on licenses "is destined to make only slots in a box," Fulop said. "That's the crux of the issue."

Sweeney predicted that Prieto's bill wouldn't pass the Assembly. Prieto said Thursday that he was confident his bill would. It is scheduled for a vote Monday.

But, Prieto said, "it shouldn't be about me trying to put up a bill and shove it down somebody's throat, or vice versa. So I will tell you, this is something that, as everything progresses from here to Monday, would be something I may be willing to just not put up, and maybe the senator should do the same."

Prieto also suggested that it would be easy to get a supermajority of the Legislature to vote in favor of a compromise bill next session.

The political jockeying came as the Senate concurred with Gov. Christie's conditional vetoes of bills that are intended to stabilize Atlantic City's finances. The package's key provision would allow the city's eight remaining casinos to make specified payments in lieu of taxes for 15 years, giving them cost certainty and preventing them from appealing their taxes, something they have done with great success in recent years.

The Assembly already concurred with Christie's recommendations, so the bills now head back to the governor's desk.

Sweeney said the legislative package wasn't a panacea.

The resort town "has a serious government problem, and it has to be addressed," Sweeney said, calling for "very serious action." He declined to elaborate when asked whether that entailed a government takeover.

With a $262 million budget for 40,000 people, Sweeney said, "something is wrong."

aseidman@phillynews.com

856-779-3846 @AndrewSeidman

Staff writer Maddie Hanna contributed to this article, which also contains information from the Associated Press.