New York Anti-Sweepstakes Gaming Bill Added To Assembly Calendar

New York legislators are poised to make the Empire State the fourth jurisdiction to ban online sweepstakes casinos in the legislative calendar year, as Sen. Joseph Adabbo’s bill that passed in the Senate was substituted into the Assembly companion bill Friday.

The legislative maneuver is possible because the language in Addabbo’s bill is identical to the one filed by Assemblyperson Carrie Woerner. The substitution came immediately after Addabbo’s bill passed in the Senate and was delivered to the lower chamber.

It was sent to the Ways and Means Committee and immediately placed on third reading, which means it could be heard as early as Monday. Woerner’s companion bill faced little resistance in the Assembly as it passed through multiple committees before being swapped for Addabbo’s legislation.

Another win for anti-sweeps states?

Nevada, Montana, and Connecticut have already signed bills into law banning online sweepstakes gaming. Addabbo cited Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection suspending High5Games and hitting the operator with over 1,000 criminal counts of illegal gaming activity as a reason to enact similar legislation while in committee in the Senate.

New York legislators were also given legal incentive to pass this bill after Attorney General Letitia James announced June 6 her office had sent cease-and-desist letters to 26 operators in the state regarding selling “sweeps coins” to New York players.

Proponents of gaming with sweepstakes prizing have scored victories in Louisiana and Maryland. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry vetoed a bill despite unanimous passage in both the House and Senate, and a similar effort in Maryland never made it out of committee.