State Senator Beck: Monmouth Park will Continue to be Protected

State Senator Jennifer Beck visited the Oceanport Borough Council on Thursday, March 17 to update the governing body on legislative efforts to make racing more successful at Monmouth Park. 

The racetrack is the biggest ratable in the borough -- contributing $1.9 million in taxes each year, which is about one fourth of the total collected revenue for Oceanport.

Beck and the mayor and council are concerned that moves by the Christie administration to privatize racing in New Jersey will hurt earnings at the track, which already faces increased competition for gambling dollars from racetracks and casinos in neighboring states.

"Oceanport relies so much on Monmouth Park," said Gerald J. Briscione, a former councilman who is currently a member of the borough's Monmouth Park Task Force. "It looks like they are trying to kneecap the racing industry."

Beck said she has repeatedly expressed these concerns in Trenton and will continue to do so.

"I have talked directly with Gov. Christie about this," she said.

The first step toward privatizing the racetrack will be having the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to lease Monmouth Park for five years to a private owner or partnership, starting this year. Eight bidders have stepped forward so far to take over operations.

The lease, also, would include five off-track betting venues, four of which have not opened, and a 50 percent share of future Internet and telephone wagering profits. The existing off-track wagering site in Woodbridge Township nets $8 million a year, Beck said. 

The deadline for putting up the $25,000 deposit that allows someone to submit a bid is March 31.

Meanwhile, $30 million that was included in legislation passed by the legislature and signed by the governor to bolster race purses over the next three years has not yet been passed on to the track, Beck said.

And efforts to help racetracks in the state by adding slot machines and casino games so they can compete with tracks in New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland that have added these attractions continue to be stymied by opposition from Atlantic City casino owners and South Jersey legislators, the senator said.

For example, putting slot machines at the Meadowlands racetrack would seem to make sense, Beck said, yet "Atlantic City continues to suggest that if we put slot at the Meadowlands it will destroy Atlantic City."

A bill that would allow so-called "exchange" wagering, which lets gamblers bet on various propositions with each other, such as which horse will lead at various point in the race, is moving forward, Beck said.

Also expected to become law is a bill that would make it easier for people to bet days in advance of a particular race, according to Beck.

"Our biggest challenge with horseracing is that it's hard to participate in horseracing because it's not easy to access," Beck said.

The idea is that if you make it easier for people to bet, more people will bet more often, so racing revenues will rise in New Jersey and the industry here will compete better with other states, according to Beck.