An emergency manager appointed by the governor a year ago to oversee Atlantic City’s finances released one report in March and “no substantive subsequent updates”, S&P said in December.
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“This is the road to ruin”, Mr. Christie said, addressing the full Legislature and hundreds of guests in the Statehouse.
He also announced the expansion of the state’s recovery coach program, which provides counseling support to those in the recovery process, with $1.7 million in fresh funds.
At the time, the CT legislature was considering a bill that would have allowed the tribes to jointly pursue up to three “satellite” casinos in strategic locations in CT.
Thomson ReutersU.S. Republican presidential candidate and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie speaks at a gathering of the Manchester Rotary Club in ManchesterTRENTON, N.J. Early in his administration, Christie pinned the city’s hopes on a $261 million tax break for the Revel casino.
Guardian insists the city is nowhere near bankrupt, but after peaking in gambling revenue in 2006, it’s been in steady decline ever since.
That didn’t stop the Republican presidential hopeful from castigating Democratic legislators for passing Monday a constitutional amendment to put to voters on guaranteeing pension payments, a course Christie said would jeopardize funding for all other types of state spending.
“The state of the union isn’t a call to action, it’s a fantasy wish list by a President who has failed us”, Christie will say, according to an excerpt from his speech.
Mr. Christie also spoke about the expansion of charter schools in the state, growing to 89 from 39 when he first took office in 2010.
“For someone going through a mental health crisis, they’re going to get better care in a treatment facility, not in a prison”, Christie said.
Expanding casinos to northern New Jersey is sure to further hurt an already damaged Atlantic City market.
Included in the proposal is for revenues to be shared with Atlantic City operators so that loss of business financials can be compensated.
“It is going to be an economic dust bowl if this happens”, said Sen. With Hard Rock now vying for a casino in the Meadowlands and the casino referendum on track to reach the ballot this year or the next, Whelan said the city’s shuttered casino properties will be less likely to see that kind of interest.
The bill explicitly gives the state Department of Environmental Protection the legal authority to issue the access rules. “If Atlantic City takes a haircut, everyone should take a haircut”.
Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian isn’t happy about the plan to take over his city. He said that he was not involved in discussions over the city’s future, as he has been in the past, and that the bill was presented to the Democratic caucus by Sweeney around 6 p.m. Monday. Last year, New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto introduced two separate but very similar bills for the establishment of two casinos in North Jersey. He said the city should sell assets including the former Bader Field airport site, and its municipal water company to raise money to help dig itself out of a financial hole. It had substance. Its focus was nearly entirely on New Jersey.
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The Statehouse was full of lawmakers, lobbyists and well-wishers for Mr. Christie’s address. “This is a win for New Jersey – not for Atlantic City, not for north Jersey, but for New Jersey as a whole”.
