Bill Text: NJ A430 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Allow problem gamblers to request placement on Division of Gaming Enforcement's list for self-excluded persons through division's website, by mail, or in-person.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee [A430 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A430-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ROBERT AUTH
District 39 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblywoman VICTORIA A. FLYNN
District 13 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Allows problem gamblers to request placement on Division of Gaming Enforcement's list for self-excluded persons through division's website, by mail, or in-person.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act concerning methods of self-exclusion from in-person gambling and amending P.L.2001, c.39.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.2001, c.39 (C.5:12-71.2) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. The division shall provide by regulation for the establishment of a list of persons self-excluded from gaming activities at all licensed casinos and simulcasting facilities. Any person may request placement on the list of self-excluded persons by agreeing that, during any period of voluntary exclusion, the person may not collect any winnings or recover any losses resulting from any gaming activity at such casinos and facilities.
b. (1) The regulations of the division shall establish procedures for placements on, and removals from, the list of self-excluded persons. Such regulations shall establish procedures for the transmittal to licensed casinos and simulcasting facilities of identifying information concerning self-excluded persons, and shall require licensed casinos and simulcasting facilities to establish procedures designed, at a minimum, to remove self-excluded persons from targeted mailings or other forms of advertising or promotions and deny self-excluded persons access to credit, complimentaries, check cashing privileges club programs, and other similar benefits.
(2) The regulations of the division shall also establish procedures to permit persons requesting placement on the list of self-excluded persons for any in-person gambling to submit the required documentation through the division's website, by mail, or in-person. The regulations shall include measures to verify the identity and intention of self-exclusion by the person wishing to self-exclude and the verification shall be specific to the self-exclusion method the person chooses.
c. A licensed casino or simulcasting facility or employee thereof shall not be liable to any self-excluded person or to any other party in any judicial proceeding for any harm, monetary or otherwise, which may arise as a result of:
(1) the failure of a licensed casino or simulcasting facility to withhold gaming privileges from, or restore gaming privileges to, a self-excluded person; or
(2) otherwise permitting a self-excluded person to engage in gaming activity in such licensed casino or simulcasting facility while on the list of self-excluded persons.
d. Notwithstanding the provisions of P.L.1977, c.110 (C.5:12-1 et seq.) or any other law to the contrary, the division's list of self-excluded persons shall not be open to public inspection. Nothing herein, however, shall be construed to prohibit a casino licensee from disclosing the identity of persons self-excluded pursuant to this section to affiliated gaming entities in this State or other jurisdictions for the limited purpose of assisting in the proper administration of responsible gaming programs operated by such gaming affiliated entities.
e. A licensed casino or simulcasting facility or employee thereof shall not be liable to any self-excluded person or to any other party in any judicial proceeding for any harm, monetary or otherwise, which may arise as a result of disclosure or publication in any manner, other than a willfully unlawful disclosure or publication, of the identity of any self-excluded person.
(cf: P.L.2014, c.20, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill allows problem gamblers to request placement on Division of Gaming Enforcement's (DGE) list for self-excluded persons through the division's website, by mail, or in-person.
Under current law, the DGE provides regulations to establish a list of persons self-excluded from gaming activities at all licensed casinos and simulcasting facilities. Any person may request placement on the list of self-excluded persons. Current DGE regulations require that a person must self-exclude from any in-person casino gambling by appearing in-person at either the DGE office in Atlantic City or by visiting one of the various offices of the New Jersey Racing Commission. However, a person is permitted to self-exclude from any internet gambling through the division's website or an online player account.
This bill provides additional methods for players to self-exclude from in-person gambling. The bill requires the division to establish procedures to permit persons requesting placement on the list of self-excluded persons for any in-person gambling to submit the required documentation through the division's website, by mail, or in-person. The regulations will include measures to verify the identity and intention of self-exclusion by the player wishing to self-exclude and the verification shall be specific to the self-exclusion method the player chooses. These measures will ensure that the person submitting the self-exclusion request is, in fact, the person who will be excluded from gambling.
