In mid-June, PocketFives brought you an article about the New Jersey Assembly Budget and Appropriations Committee passing A2578, a bill that would allow players from the East Coast state to fire up various forms of legal internet gambling, including online poker. What are the next steps that we can expect to see? To get some insight, PocketFives sat down with Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association(iMEGA) Chairman Joe Brennan, who has helped bring the legislation to fruition.

“Nothing will happen until the fall,” Brennan told PocketFives in an exclusive interview. “The New Jersey Legislature goes on summer break. Even if the legislature passed the bill before it left for break, the governor could hold off on signing it into law until later this year. The bill’s sponsors have a couple of issues like the tax rate that they want to resolve before we move forward. No one is saying it won’t get done, though.”

Recently, lawmakers’ efforts have been focused on finalizing a $32 billion budget. “People are interested in internet gaming,” Brennan contended, “but it’s not health care or education. Those are the things being worked on right now in New Jersey.”

Meanwhile, according to a recent article in the New York Daily News, New York took in $1 billion more than New Jersey in gambling income in 2010. That means New York, not New Jersey, is now third nationwide behind Nevada and California in terms of gaming revenue.

Brennan conceded that despite the overt need to resurrect New Jersey’s once dominant gambling position, “There are a whole lot of politics around this issue. At best, internet gambling is a mid-major activity.” And we thought “mid-major” just applied to Butler basketball.

Working against New Jersey, besides time, is the advancement of online gaming in other states, including Nevadaand nearby Delaware. The governor of the latter state recently signed a bill permitting internet gambling and games could launch early next year.

“Pennsylvania will probably try to legalize internet gambling,” said Brennan, “especially if it ends up privatizing the lottery. If New Jersey doesn’t make it happen before the close of the year, they’ll probably see a dramatic reduction in the opportunity they could have had if Governor Chris Christie (pictured) had signed the bill a year and a half ago. Eventually, people will want to move and play elsewhere.”

You’ll recall that in early 2011, Christie vetoed a bill that at the time would have established the first legalized intrastate internet gambling market in the country. Christie questioned whether the bill would be deemed unconstitutional and said, “If the legislature believes that expanding gambling outside of Atlantic City is in the best interests of the State of New Jersey, it should place the question on the ballot for the voters to decide.”

New Jersey also faces various pressures on an emerging internet gambling market. The northern part of the state contains racetracks like the Meadowlands, while all of its land-based casinos can be found in Atlantic City, in the state’s southern half. Despite the dichotomy, its rich gaming heritage could propel lawmakers to act.

“New Jersey wants to be able to lead this industry,” Brennan (pictured) explained. “New Jersey has a history of being the red-headed stepchild to the Nevada gaming industry. If you don’t understand what I mean, all you have to do is look at Atlantic City. New Jersey feels like the Nevada companies operating in it did not reinvest in Atlantic City. Atlantic City has some nice hotels and casinos, but the rest of the town can be pretty seedy in some places. The casinos have not reinvested because they’re not New Jersey corporate citizens.”

Brennan concluded, “If New Jersey misses out on becoming the headquarters of internet gaming, then they quite possibly could be looking at another scenario where they are the red-headed stepchild of that industry too.”

Do you think internet gambling will come to pass in the Garden State? If so, when? Tell us by leaving a comment here. Stay tuned to PocketFives for the latest poker legislation news.