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Sen. Jim Whelan (D-Atlantic) said Tuesday that revising regulatory restrictions on the casino industry could help give Atlantic City the flexibility and competitive edge it needs to maintain economic viability into the future and he wants the state Red Tape Review Commission to help out.

“There’s no question in my mind that a major part of the problem in Atlantic City is the stranglehold of regulations choking the life out of the casino industry,” said Whelan, the chairman of the Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee.

“While I don’t think complete deregulation is the answer, we need to review our state’s regulatory system, and create more flexibility where we can. Whether it’s Atlantic City’s casino industry, or the state’s builders or biotech industries, we can generate serious economic activity by scaling back some of the overregulation which has occurred for a number of years.”

Whelan specifically said he was interested in looking for ways to provide regulatory relief to hard-hit casinos and promote green energy alternatives along the Jersey Shore. In a letter to Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, he urged her to direct the Red Tape Review Commission she chairs to look at easing restrictions on windmills on Atlantic City’s Steel Pier, to provide relief from state Department of Environmental Protection regulations for casino-run beach bars, and to establish a compromise on landfill closures and cappings in the Pinelands, to allow projects to move forward but still provide enough oversight to safeguard against the sort of system-wide breakdown which occurred with the EnCap project in Bergen County.

Whelan also urged the commission to review recommendations set forward by the state Casino Control Commission to establish a common-sense regulatory structure designed to encourage growth in the casino industry.

The commission met for the second time Tuesday, convening at Brookdale Community College in Monmouth County.

Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex), a commission member, said a thorough assessment of unfunded state mandates would be key to easing some of the burdens on cities and towns, in particular, trying to navigate the state’s labyrinth of red tape.
Whelan said, “New Jersey as a whole – and South Jersey in particular – would benefit greatly from having a thriving, economically viable casino industry in Atlantic City.

“However, years of regulation upon regulation have resulted in an industry with a relatively narrow band of operations, and even the regulators have finally said ‘enough is enough.’ It’s time that we interject a little bit of common sense when it comes to the regulations and rules we put forward on the casino industry.”

In her reply to Whelan’s letter, Guadagno noted that the DEP has preliminary rules in place to allow for permanent structures for casino-run beach bars and to pave the way for the construction of wind turbines on the Steel Pier.

Whelan said he is encouraged by Guadagno’s willingness to help, and that he looks forward to working with the commission to strike an appropriate balance between the public’s interest in regulating green energy and the casino industry, and the need to create economic activity in the region.

At the commission meeting, Buon said, “We need to dig deeper today into the issue of unfunded mandates to find workable solutions to the everyday problems that they pose. I hope that we will get to hear some specifics on the troubles that people have encountered in this area.”

She added, “In this dire economy, unfunded mandates can be particularly crippling for local governments struggling to avoid tax hikes. The overarching goal of this group is to create a more progressive and predictable set of rules and regulations to move our state forward. This course must strike a healthy balance between consumer protections and the needs of business and industry so that we can foster an environment of growth within our state.”