New York online casino bill reintroduced for 2024 legislative session
Statute brought by Senator Joe Addabbo seeks to legalize online slots and table games after failed attempts to do so in 2023
New York will once again attempt to expand its regulated online gaming market in 2024, as a bill to legalize online casino was formally reintroduced by Senator Joe Addabbo at the beginning of the Empire State’s new legislative session.
The proposed legislation, SB 856, is the same bill Addabbo filed during the 2023 legislative session and seeks to legalize and regulate igaming offerings such as online slots and table games.
The statute would also allow for an expansion of New York State lottery services to enable residents to buy lottery tickets online.
According to the language of the bill, operators of New York’s retail casinos, racinos, and online sportsbooks would be eligible to apply for igaming licensure.
Online casino operators would be subject to a one-time $2m licensing fee, with igaming revenue subject to a tax rate of 30.5%. Tax revenue would be filtered through the state’s Lottery Fund, which primarily supports the financing of education initiatives.
Addabbo, who chairs the Senate Committee on Racing, Gaming, and Wagering, has long been a proponent of expanded online gaming in New York, most recently penning a December op-ed in City & State New York in which he argued New York can’t afford to turn down an estimated $1bn in projected annual tax revenue from regulated igaming.
“As we prepare to enter a new legislative session with Covid-era funding from the federal government expiring, we face a looming budget deficit of great proportions,” Addabbo wrote. “The state comptroller has pegged the deficit at $4.3bn for next year and $8bn for 2025.
“Solving it will require many difficult choices, but a good first step to beat the odds is right in front of us: we can double the substantial revenue we get from mobile sports betting through the legalization of igaming and iLottery.”
New York is coming off a 2023 in which its online sports betting market generated $861m in tax revenue back to the state.
If Addabbo’s bill passes, New York would join the six other states – New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan and West Virginia – that currently offer online casino.