From the team that brought online sports betting to New York comes “Legalize II: It’s Casino Time.”

That’s the upshot of an op-ed published this week on CityAndStateNY.com and co-written by New York State Sen. Joe Addabbo and Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow. The two head the committees overseeing racing and wagering issues in their respective houses, and after working together to bring online sports betting to the Empire State, they’ve partnered again in an effort to give New York online casinos.

“We are working on legislation to authorize iGaming and iLottery in New York, and we are optimistic that this session, we can turn it into law,” the duo wrote. “The bill uses the same framework in place for mobile sports betting, allowing consumers to safely play in a legal and regulated market while generating a projected $1 billion annually for New York, above and beyond what the state already receives from mobile sports betting.”

Speaking to US Bets in October, Addabbo cited the state’s budget concerns in suggesting the time may be ripe for making iCasino — and iLottery — games available in New York. Online casinos are currently legal and available in six other states, with neighboring New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut among them.

Big budget hole

“It’s a budgetary item. Frankly, we’re in trouble. I’ll let the economists and state comptroller weigh in, but we’re in trouble fiscally without federal help,” Addabbo said at the time. “You can’t cut your way out of a multi-billion-dollar deficit, can’t raise taxes to that extent, so you need new revenue.”

Addabbo and Pretlow doubled down on this sentiment in their op-ed.

“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,” they wrote. “The state comptroller has pegged the deficit at $4.3 billion for next year and $8 billion 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 (online gambling) and iLottery (online state lottery).”

More will be known about the duo’s chances next month, when Gov. Kathy Hochul releases her executive budget. Addabbo has said all he needs to move forward is for her to say her office is willing to “explore” it.

“Now is the time for New York to invest in opportunities that will allow for big economic growth down the road, something we can hardly turn away from as the state faces an impending deficit,” the op-ed concluded.

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