In one of the most mind-boggling back-and-forth battles in our lifetime, it appears like a final decision has been made – much to the chagrin of residents in New York.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has been feverishly working on fixing New York City’s coronavirus, so perhaps mobile sports betting legalization isn’t his top priority at the moment. However, this has been a battle that he’s firmly been against, even before the outbreak.
The state budget is more important than ever in New York, with most of its residents out of work and looking for ways to make income. Not to mention, the hospitals in the five boroughs have been inundated with sick and patients coming in and filling the beds and rooms.
In fact, there have been some patients that have gone as much 60 hours without a bed, despite having serious symptoms.
“What is so astonishing is that we had a need for revenue before the virus crisis, and we’re still being asked to make cuts to health care,” said Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr.
Addabbo will continue to promote mobile sports betting as much as he can going forward, analyzing the budget, and coming up with new ways to make magic.
“I believe we need to examine all credible revenue options regardless of any apprehensions,” said Addabbo. “We should be exploring both mobile and three licenses given that the need for current and future revenue is evident.”
Back in January, Cuomo released his annual budget proposal for the 2021 fiscal year. In the budget, he had plans for expansion on sports betting, but there would be no movement on the mobile-betting front.
Cuomo has always said that online betting would only be considered if it was through an amendment to the state’s constitution.
Needing Money
Lawmakers hoped that Cuomo would readjust his stance, considering New York has a $6 billion deficit at the moment. The state is using more and more additional money, which it does not have, to fight off the effects of the coronavirus outbreak.
Even more worrisome is that New York is expected to have less tax revenue come in next year because of the resulting economic shutdown; now, more than ever, these streams of revenue need to be more creative and thoughtful.
Part of the problem is that we don’t know if the New York Legislature will go on with their session, which is scheduled to end on June 2. Three New York Assembly members have tested positive for the coronavirus, making matters even more complicated.
If the legislature does come back this year, lawmakers could look to start a three-year process on a constitutional amendment to work on the legalities of mobile sports betting.
In a time when New York needs the extra money, perhaps Cuomo should reconsider his initial stance on mobile sports betting and allow it. Even though those extra funds wouldn’t be coming in now, with all American sports coming to a screeching stop, they could still help at some point down the road.
After all, New York is going to be in a world of hurt financially when this coronavirus outbreak hits the maximum peak.
