A bill allowing some bars and restaurants to install off-track wagering terminals gets simultaneous legislative hearings by Senate and Assembly panels on Thursday.
The measure sets up a pilot program allowing a select number of eating and drinking establishments to install the terminals in the northern half of the state, beginning in northern Ocean County.
Assemblyman John Burzichelli, a South Jersey Democrat who is sponsoring the bill in the Assembly, said it is intended "to allow racing to find a new audience."
The new licenses would supplement the state's earlier efforts to expand horse betting beyond the state's four tracks through off-track wagering parlors. Efforts to establish OTWs have been mixed. Three parlors are up and running - in Vineland, Toms River and Woodbridge - while others have been quashed in the planning stage when residents resisted having a betting parlor built in their neighborhood.
The horse tracks and Atlantic City casinos also have off-track betting facilities.
The number of bars and eateries and the number of terminals permitted under the pilot program are subject to change. The current draft of the bill calls for up to 60 licenses to be granted initially, though the actual number could be lower. A version being discussed by the state's horse owner associations calls for a maximum 20 terminals to be installed at 12 or fewer locations.
The thoroughbred and standardbred horse groups both support the measure.
Installing terminals in bars and restaurants is far cheaper than building an OTW, where startup costs are at least $4 million and can run as high as $12 million.
The New Jersey Racing Commission would oversee the pilot project, granting and renewing licenses every year and evaluating the success of the effort after three years.
Wagering on in-state and out-of-state races would be permitted.
The bill needs legislative approval and the governor's signature to become law. If that doesn't happen on the final voting session on Jan. 9, the bill must be reintroduced and the hearing process begun again after the Legislature reorganizes on Jan. 10.
The potential for wagering in bars and restaurants is one of many horse racing changes coming to the Garden State.
Gov. Chris Christie signed a deal at year's end to privatize racing that ends state subsidies to the tracks. One agreement grants a 30-year lease privatizing operations at Meadowlands Racetrack; the second keeps Monmouth Park running while a private operator is found in time for 2013.
Monmouth Park, a thoroughbred track, is estimated to lose $6 million next summer, the final year of state control.
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