A drug conviction may no longer be an impossible hurdle to casino employment for many people, if a bipartisan bill passed by an Assembly committee Thursday becomes law.
The measure would allow the state Casino Control Commission to issue a casino employee license and the state Division of Gaming Enforcement to issue a casino employee registration to any applicant who has successfully completed a term of special probation, or recovery court.
Current law states that someone convicted of certain drug offenses is unable to get a casino key employee license, which is needed to work in casinos.
An identical bill passed the full Senate last December.
State Sen. Chris Brown, R-Atlantic, said he developed the original bill after a conversation with Joe Jingoli, a partner in Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City, who believes it is Hard Rock’s corporate responsibility to give recovering addicts a second chance.
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The Assembly Law and Public Safety committee advanced bill A5817, sponsored by Assemblyman Vincent Mazzeo, D-Atlantic, unanimously and without comment.
The identical bill in the Senate was co-sponsored by Brown and then-Sen. Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic. Van Drew has since moved on to Congress.
