New Jersey Governor Urged by PPA to Sign Online Gambling Bill into Law

Whether New Jersey governor Chris Christie will sign intrastate online gambling legislation into law is still not known despite the due date getting closer. With such uncertainty in place, many feel the need to urge the governor to make up his mind – preferably in favor of the legislation – and one such call arrived this week from the Poker Players Alliance. According to the action group, it has activated more than 20,000 of its members in New Jersey to urge the governor to sign legislation legalising online gaming before the early February deadline. It has issued a press release in which it states that “The New Jersey legislature voted in near unanimity to revive the state's gaming economy by making New Jersey an epicenter for online gaming and poker. "Since the legislation was sent to Governor Christie's desk, the public has been unanimous in its support for the bill. Thousands of New Jersey residents have contacted the Governor urging him to sign the bill into law. "In addition to providing New Jersey poker players with a safe and regulated online poker market, this important legislation will add millions in state revenue and thousands of jobs to the state. New Jersey has the opportunity to be a leader in a vibrant and thriving 21st Century industry, and we hope Governor Christie recognizes the many benefits this bill will bring to this state and its citizens.” In order to organize its members and other supporters in backing the bill, the PPA included in its new webpage a one-stop shop for contacting Governor Christie via phone, email, Facebook and Twitter. Reportedly, since last week when the campaign went live, New Jersey voters have made more than 500 calls to the Governor, sent over 1,300 emails and flooded the Governor's social networks with Tweets and Facebook posts urging him to sign the bill into law. In the meantime, Christie signed another bill, A2610, into law, thus enabling New Jersey punters to wager at the state's horse racing tracks using mobile devices. In a statement on the passage of the bill, its sponsor, Assemblywoman Connie Wagner said: "Mobile devices are now a standard part of our lives allowing consumers to do any number of activities, and now we move forward in modernizing our horse racing industry."