New York to Reconsider Online Casino Gambling Legislation

As of today, less than 8 states have passed online casino gambling legislation. From one state to the next, passing said legislation has been difficult for a variety of reasons, ranging from politics to issues with the nation's Indian Tribes.

New York is yet another state that easily passed retail and mobile sports betting legislation while shunning the idea of legalizing online casino gambling legislation. It's noteworthy that New York is home to several retail casinos that are operating mostly in upper New York. There have also been recent rumblings about opening New York City to retail casino operators, something that seems to have traction. Still, there has been a clear reluctance to consider online/mobile casino legislation.

Sen. Joe Addabbo files SB 8185

For the third straight congressional year, Sen. Joe Addabbo has filed online casino legislation, this time in the form of SB 8185. It's noteworthy that Sen. Addsbbo played a key role in getting New York sports betting legislation passed a couple of years ago.

Knowing this could be an exercise in futility, Sen. Addabbo continues to put forth these pieces of legislation. He created SB 8185 despite the fact Governor Kathy Hochul has made clear she is not interested in passing such legislation at this time.

Sometime during the week that starts on January 16, 2024, Gov. Hochul is expected to address the General Assembly with her most recent executive budget proposal. Expectations are that nowhere in the budget is any mention of tax revenue that would be derived from online casino operations. There are further indications that the reason she considers online casino gambling off the table is because the revenue is not needed for the fiscal budget.

Sen. Addabbo has made clear he will run with SB 8185 until March. If he senses that Gov. Hochul is unwilling to consider any form of online gambling legislation, we will likely abort such efforts for this fiscal year and start trying to gather support for a run in 2025.

Details of SB 8185

Keeping in mind this is the third iteration presented by the Senator, many of the details remain the same. The two key changes presented in this most recent iteration are focused on the inclusion of online lottery play and the establishment of a $25 million fund that would be used to protect retail casino workers from the possible ravages of online casino gambling.

Here are some of the holdovers from prior bills:

• Up to 231 online casino operator licenses could be awarded to retail casinos, Indian Tribes, online bookmakers, etc.
  
• A tax rate of 30.5% on gross revenue
  
• Initial licenses would run $2,000,000 for the first 10 years
  
• Each licensee would be restricted to one skin
  
• $11 million would be allocated each year to a problem gambling fund
  

As a parting shot, Sen. Addabbo told the press:

“I’m not going to be the only one talking about this or advocating for it. iGaming and iLottery are going to happen in New York eventually. If you want to realize the money next year, you’ve got to vote on it this year.”