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Groton Daily Independent
Monday, Dec. 04, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 148 ~ 39 of 43
In court, the NBA, NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball have fought New Jersey’s gambling expansion, arguing that it would hurt the integrity of their games, though leaders of all but the NFL have shown vary- ing degrees of openness to legalized sports gambling.
More than a dozen states are supporting New Jersey, which is arguing that Congress exceeded its au- thority when it passed a 1992 law that keeps states from authorizing sports betting. The state says the Constitution allows Congress to make wagering on sports illegal itself but that it can’t require states to keep sports gambling prohibitions in place.
New Jersey has spent millions of dollars in legal fees trying to legalize sports betting. In 2012, with vot- ers’ support, state lawmakers authorized sports betting at the state’s casinos and racetracks. The action was a direct challenge to the federal law, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act.
The law bars state-authorized sports gambling with exceptions for Nevada, Montana, Oregon and Delaware, states that had approved some form of sports wagering before the law took effect. Nevada is the only state where a person can wager on the results of a single game, though the law doesn’t cover wagering between friends. In passing the law, Congress gave New Jersey a yearlong window to authorize sports betting at its casinos, but the state didn’t act.
Two decades later, when New Jersey decided to legalize sports betting, the four major professional sports leagues and the NCAA sued, but the state lost in court. In 2014, New Jersey tried a different tactic by repealing laws prohibiting sports gambling at casinos and racetracks. It lost again in court.
Now that the case is before the Supreme Court, the justices could ultimately greenlight the expansion of sports gambling nationwide by striking down the federal law. But the justices could also uphold it, leaving in place the status quo, or rule narrowly that what New Jersey did didn’t violate the law.
A decision is expected by the end of June.
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Follow Jessica Gresko on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jessicagresko
This Week: Trade balance, consumer credit, nonfarm payrolls By The Associated Press
A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week:
BALANCING ACT
The nation’s trade de cit has been growing even though a weaker dollar has made U.S.-made products
less expensive.
Through September, the U.S. had run a trade gap this year of $405.2 billion, a 9 percent increase from
a year earlier. September’s de cit widened to $43.5 billion as imports grew faster than exports. Did the trend continue in October? Find out Tuesday, when the Commerce Department reports its latest trade data.
Trade balance, monthly, billions of dollars, seasonally adjusted: May -46.4
June -43.5
July -43.6
Aug. -42.8
Sept. -43.5
Oct. (est.) -45.8
Source: FactSet
RACKING UP DEBT
The Federal Reserve releases its latest snapshot of consumer borrowing Thursday.
Economists expect the tally, which excludes mortgages and other loans secured by real estate, will show
consumer borrowing increased by $16.8 billion in October. That would be down from a gain of $20.8 billion the previous month. The increase in September pushed total consumer credit to a record $3.79 trillion.
Consumer credit, monthly change, seasonally adjusted, billions of dollars: May 18.4