This is a guest post by Boriana Slabakova with PlayToday.co
The New York State Gaming Commission is a regulatory body that controls all aspects of gambling in the state of New York. This includes Class III Indian Gaming, the state lottery, commercial and charitable gaming, as well as horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering.
The newly proposed bill, A1586, intends to somewhat limit the Gaming Commission’s power by reducing the maximum penalty for breaching section 552 of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering, and breeding law.
What Is A1586?
The current law states that the Gaming Commission is allowed to impose monetary fines for violating a commission rule or regulation upon any corporation, association, or person somehow participating in any thoroughbred race meet at which pari-mutuel betting is conducted, whether such corporation, association, or person is licensed by the New York State Gaming Commission or not.
Currently, such a corporation, association, or person will be fined no more than $50,000 for each violation. When it comes to the bill A1586, it tries to amend the current racing, pari-mutuel wagering, and breeding law’s subdivision 4 of section 552 by setting the maximum fine to $10,000 per violation.
There have been several versions of the bill introduced in other legislative sessions, stretching back more than 10 years. The first version of the bill, A2751, was introduced in 2009–2010, followed by A3603 in 2011–2012, A4235 in 2013–2014, A1288 in 2015–2016, A920 in 2017–2018, and finally A4157 in 2019–2020.
The latest version of the bill is sponsored by State Assemblymember Gary Pretlow Sr. and was introduced on the 11th of January 2021.
The Potential Side Effects of A1586
Even though the exterior of the bill might seem beneficial to horse racing corporations and associations, it may harm the gambling industry on a larger scale. More precisely, it could cost the State millions of dollars in potential revenue.
By allowing the Gaming Commission to tighten the noose on unlawful gambling, states like New York may potentially be one step closer to legalizing online gambling as a whole. Granted, while the state of New York has a soft spot for horse racing, seeing as it is one of the few activities on which you can legally bet online, the new bill may harm the long process of trying to legalize online gambling across the state.
Rather than being lenient, giving Gambling Commissions more control and imposing stricter regulations could be perceived positively, since tight regulations spell more control over unlawful gambling.
The potential for the legalization of online gambling in the state of New York is especially important in today’s time. With the pandemic affecting the global economy, even New York’s Governor, Andrew Cuomo, is hard-pressed to look for alternative revenue sources.
The New York State projected that it needs an additional $15 billion in revenue over the upcoming years just to make up for the deficit caused by the pandemic. If we take into consideration that the global online gambling revenue reached $66.67 billion in 2020, we can easily conclude that online gambling might just be one of the sources that will contribute to fixing the state of New York’s economy.
Summary
While the A1586 will undeniably have an effect on corporations, associations, or persons fined by the New York State Gaming Commission, whether it affects online gambling in any sort of way is a matter of personal opinion and should be taken with a grain of salt.
Cover Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash