Page 45: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 1994)

N.E. Waterborne Gaming Conference & Exposition

October 3 & 4, New York

The Northeast's first Waterborne Gaming

Conference will be held at the Whitehall Club in

New York City.

The conference is sponsored by The Maritime

Association of the Port of NY/NJ. With the forecast promising legalization of waterborne gaming by 1995 in New York, New Jersey and

Pennsylvania (see related story, this page), the conference panels were designed with the goal of merging The Maritime Association's experience and knowledge in the maritime industry with the experience of many talented representatives from other states who have implemented waterborne gaming.

Panelists scheduled to appear at the confer- ence include: • Glenn Ashe, director of business develop- ment, ABS Americas • Lawrence Evans, director of domestic af- fairs, Transportation Institute • John Gilbert, president, John W. Gilbert &

Associates, Inc. • Arthur B. Hahn, Jr., president, Waterfront

Development Corp. • Sharon May-Zinser, vice president, sales & marketing, Directions In De- sign, Inc. • H. Steven Norton, president and

CEO, Argosy Gaming Co. • Scott Scherer, executive director of corporate development, International

Game Technology • Ronald Thornton, CPCU, execu- tive vice president, Marine Office of

America Corp. • James Zok, deputy associate admin- istrator for maritime aids, Maritime Association

The conference will cover Congressional legis- lation, focusing on the creation of an American- flag cruise industry and the implications of that legislation, and full information from the Mari- time Administration on Title XI Ship Financing.

For more information on the Northeast

Waterborne Gaming Conference & Exhibition, contact The Maritime Association of the Port of

NY/NJ at tel: (212)425-5704.

Casino Vessel Market Roots Spread To N.E.

Legalized riverboat gaming is — accord- ing to various market indicators — primed to spread to and throughout the Northeast

U.S., specifically New York, New Jersey &

Pennsylvania.

To help pave the profitable way for suppli- ers to the industry, the Maritime Associa- tion of the Port of New York/New Jersey will present the Northeast's first waterborne gaming conference and exhibition, dubbed "Rediscovering our Waterways & Water- front," scheduled for October 3 & 4 at the

Whitehall Club in New York (see story, this page).

However, as any casino vessel builder, supplier or designer can attest, the casino vessel market starts and spreads with suc- cessful legislation in a given state or area. To date, none of the above-mentioned states have legalized casino riverboats, but accord- ing to many inside sources, the time is close for one or more to bring this ever-growing popular entertainment source to the water- ways of the Northeast. The following is a state-by-state update of promising casino vessel legislation in the Northeast.

NEW JERSEY: Assemblyman (6th District)

Wayne R. Bryant, Esq. proposed riverboat gaming legislation which, basically, reads: "If a state bordering this state authorizes the conduct of any form of casino gambling, the legislature shall authorize by law, within six months thereafter, the conduct of casino gambling on boats which are permanently docked at, or are principally docked at and operate from sites on the shores of this state.

The law authorizing such casino gambling shall provide that: (1) only holders of licenses which are operating casinos in Atlantic City shall be licensed to conduct the casino gam- bling on such boats; (2) no such license holder in Atlantic City shall be licensed to conduct such casino gambling on more than three boats; and (3) the tax on such casino gambling shall be at the same rate set by law for the operation of gambling establishments in Atlantic City ... except that 25 percent of the state revenues derived from casino gam- bling on each boat shall be transmitted to the municipality in which the boat is perma- nently or principally docked."

NEW YORK: N Y. Senator Nicholas A.

Spano introduced Senate Bill 6529, which would legalize casino gaming in the Catskill region of the state, casino gaming on vessels navigating the state waters and waterways, and certain gaming at horse racing tracks and simulcast theaters. Specifically, the vessel portion of the bill permits games of chance, any card games of chance, elec- tronic or electromechanical facsimiles of any games of chance, or slot machines upon public vessels being navigated upon state waters and waterways as authorized by the legislature, but only approved in county referendum.

The justification for the bill is that neigh- boring states currently allow established casino gaming and other gaming opportu- nities, citing, among others, Pennsylvania's proposed riverboat gaming legislation. The bill also states that "several other New

York tourism areas would profit by the use of our beautiful natural bodies of water and waterways for riverboat gambling. The use of state's waterways offers a natural form of containment for the gambling environment and eliminates the high cost of land acqui- sition and siting (i.e. New York City). The

Mayor of New York City and other cities have requested the ability to host riverboat gaming."

PENNSYLVANIA: Representative Frank

Gigliotti, chairman of the subcommittee of the Finance Committee, has been work- ing to garner support for House Bill 1883.

The bill, which "has already changed and will probably change three or four more times before the final draft," according to

Rep. Gigliotti, is being ushered around the state in an attempt to gain valuable input from other state legislators. Rep.

Gigliotti also plans to seek the input of the governor, and will wait until after this fall's gubernatorial elections to do so. If every- thing goes as planned, he predicts the bill will be up for a May primary vote, and, pending those results of course, his best- case scenario includes Pennsylvania's first boat in late 1995 or early 1996. Rep.

Gigliotti was adamant about the bill being still in its formative stages, stressing that the final version could look far different than the current version. However, the current bill would provide for three classes of licenses, each with a different franchise tax structure: First Class ($30 million) for the counties which house Pittsburgh and

Philadelphia, providing five licenses apiece;

Second Class ($20 million) for Erie and

Delaware counties, two licenses apiece; and all other counties would have Third Class ($15 million) status, eligible for one license each. The current bill would cap the state riverboat vessel total at 18 to 20.

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September, 1994

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