Hope remained that a special summer legislative session called by Gov. Kathy Hochul would bring back discussions surrounding the legalization of online casinos in New York.
But the avenue toward crossing the finish line is not clearing up as much as one would hope. Rather, more hurdles continue to emerge.
Take the Gaming Facility Location Board setting its own timeline for issuing downstate casino licenses, one that would fall a year later than what’s detailed in a bill passed by lawmakers last month. Then, consider comments from Hochul regarding the financial assistance to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which made it seem as if a special session would not even occur.
“Last year,” Hochul said in a statement, “as the MTA faced a fiscal cliff that represented one of the most existential threats in the system’s history, I proposed and then worked successfully with the State Legislature to secure significant, reliable, and recurring operating funding for the MTA in the State budget.
“As a result, the MTA is now in a strong financial position, which will allow it to continue to meet its responsibilities to its millions of riders to provide safe and timely transport.”
‘Anything can happen’ as Hochul comments on MTA funding
This is not to say that legalizing NY online casinos in 2024 is a complete lost cause. As Sen. Joseph Addabbo, sponsor of the bill to legalize iGaming, told PlayNY in March, “anything can happen.”
And Hochul left the door a tad open in her recent comments.
The governor noted that the MTA will work to finalize its 2025-29 capital plan with an expected vote by the MTA Board in the fall. But, she added, the plan “would require new funding sources.” Hochul said she will “continue to work in partnership with the State Legislature to implement comprehensive solutions and ensure appropriate funding sources in next year’s budget.”
While PlayNY has not received a response from Addabbo about the likelihood of iGaming legalization this year, he told Bonus last week that it was “not likely.” He then echoed sentiments shared with PlayNY earlier this year:
“It’s all governor-driven. The governor has to want it.”
Downstate casino licensing may play a role in iGaming
So where does the downstate casino licensing come in?
Start with the most recent meeting of the Gaming Facility Location Board (GFLB), which set a deadline of June 27, 2025, for interested bidders to submit their official applications. That came on the heels of lawmakers, led by Addabbo, passed a bill (yet to be signed by Hochul) that would set the application deadline of Aug. 31, 2024.
Vicki Been, chair of the GFLB, said in a statement afterward that the June 2025 timeline “encompasses all legal requirements that potential bidders must meet before we may evaluate applications, gives communities ample opportunity to have their voices heard, establishes a level playing field among multiple competitors, and affords serious applicants the opportunity to participate in a lucrative and transformational process.”
Many feared that reviewing applications and issuing the three licenses would prevent NY online casino legalization from happening simultaneously, which Addabbo rebuffed last year. He called the process of downstate licensing “a separate, parallel track to iGaming.”
“We should not be handcuffed and frozen in time expanding one at the expense of the other,” Addabbo told PlayNY in November. “So we can’t be frozen and say, ‘No, we can’t do iGaming because we’re still doing downstate licenses.’ We’re New York State. We can multitask.
“There’s no sense in being frozen and not doing iGaming while we’re just working on the downstate license process that is ongoing and moving ahead. Ever so slowly, but it’s moving ahead.”
