Senator Ray Lesniak had some harsh words for the transition report put together by the Gaming, sports and entertainment subcommittee and their look at the situation in the state with sports betting:
"Having reviewed the transition team's report on sports wagering, I personally don't think it's worth the paper it's printed on," said Senator Lesniak, D-Union. "However, as a document intended to provide guidance to our State's new Chief Executive, this is very dangerous stuff. I urge Governor Christie to ignore the findings in this report, and do what's right for the people of New Jersey and the future viability of Atlantic City's casino industry."
Lesniak questioned the impartiality of those crafting the report as well as the conclusions:
"It's self-serving for the Vice President of Harrah's Entertainment to try to torpedo our efforts to provide fundamental fairness to the people of New Jersey," said Senator Lesniak. "Harrah's makes a mint every year on their ability to offer sports wagering to patrons at their Las Vegas casinos, and yet Mr. Satz would call on the Governor not to make those same opportunities available to the people of the Garden State. The transition team's recommendations on sports wagering are entirely off-base, and considering who's making those recommendations, are steeped in self-interest over the interests of the taxpayers of New Jersey."
The report cited the cost of a challenge, but Lesniak said that his law firm is handling the case at no charge to the state:
"We have not asked for one red cent from the State of New Jersey in our efforts to overturn the sports wagering ban. The only thing we're asking for is the State's support in our efforts - by joining as a plaintiff to give legal standing to our strongest constitutional argument, that the federal ban violates the 10th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States."
Lesniak is focused on the sports betting portion and is pointing to the conflicts on the committee, but separate from that the gaming industry as a whole needs to have a fresh look. The horse racing industry is struggling mightily and Atlantic City is losing market share to other states daily. Lesniak thinks sports betting is an answer to help solving those problems, but many of the debates that occur over gaming involve a regional subcontext, such as Senator Sarlo suggesting a Casino at the Meadowlands, which is sure to rankle Atlantic City. You can view the subcommittee report for yourself here.
The Chris Christie transition team yesterday flipped the switch and unveiled their new transition website, launched a new facebook page and went live with the @govchristie twitter account for the Governor-elect yesterday. Here's a screenshot:
They have bios about the new Governor/Lieutenant Governor, news from the new administration, the ability for people to give feedback and comments, a chance to apply for employment and the chance to send a greeting to the new Governor. The website also has a blog and rss feed. I like seeing the new administration continue to embrace social media. You can see the Transition 2010 page here.
Chris Christie announced his transition team yesterday and while there are many very qualified people that will be leading the effort, one person stuck out like a sore thumb:
Former Attorney General David Samson had previously been designated as chairman of the transition panel.
The transition team includes: State Sens. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Middletown) and Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D-Jersey City), Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore, Christie campaign strategist Michael DuHaime, Woodbridge Mayor and former State Treasurer John McCormac, Montclair State University President Susan Cole, Southern New Jersey Chamber of Commerce President Debra DiLorenzo, former New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority Chairman Jon Hanson, and former PSE&G President Alfred Koeppe,
GOP Chairman George Gilmore? Just imagine what the reaction would have been in 2005 from these same Republicans if the shoe were on the other foot and Jon Corzine put Joe Ferriero on his transition team.
Former Attorney General David Samson had previously been designated as chairman of the transition panel.
The transition team includes: State Sens. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Middletown) and Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D-Jersey City), Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore, Christie campaign strategist Michael DuHaime, Woodbridge Mayor and former State Treasurer John McCormac, Montclair State University President Susan Cole, Southern New Jersey Chamber of Commerce President Debra DiLorenzo, former New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority Chairman Jon Hanson, and former PSE&G President Alfred Koeppe,
Christie also said he talked with Corzine about providing money from a discretionary fund for the gubernatorial transition after it was discovered that the Legislature had not appropriated any money for that purpose in the current budget.
The News 12 story says that Christie and Corzine are scheduled to meet tomorrow.
