On Thursday, December 16 in Trenton, a New Jersey Assembly committee 'cleared the way' for the lower house to vote on multiple piece of legislation which would give a shot in the arm for the state's gaming industry

, according to a report.

An article by Bob Jordan on dailyrecord.com explains that bills which would see New Jersey residents allowed to legally partake in online gaming, the creation of an Atlantic City tourism district, and legislation to 'prop up' the racing industry received no opposition in votes by the Assembly Budget Committee.

The report quotes William Pascrell III, a lobbyist for the internet gaming industry, as telling the committee, "We believe it's a jobs-creation bill. New Jersey would become the first state to do this and it will become the global Mecca for online gaming."

Also, negotiations are taking place today which could see Tioga and Vernon Downs owner Jeff Gural work out an agreement to lease the Meadowlands Racetrack from the State of New Jersey.

A report by Wayne Parry on bloomberg.com explains that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is hoping that the state legislature will wait a couple of days to start its Christmas vacation in order to allow critical negotiations to take place.

"We could resolve all these issues by Monday and give Atlantic City a Christmas present of certainty as to how they're going to move forward," Christie was quoted as saying in Parry's article. "Put in just one more day of work."

(With files from dailyrecord.com and bloomberg.com)

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