For second consecutive year, the New York Senate passed a bill aiming to make online poker legal and regulate it across the state. The bill S 3898, which is sponsored by Senator John Bonacic, managed to pass the Senate by a vote of 54 to 8.
As previously reported by Casino Guardian, this is not the first attempt made by the state to make online poker legal. Last year, another bill was passed by the State Senate, but was shelved by the Assembly. This year’s attempt seeks to make online poker legal by first categorising it as a game of skill rather than a game of luck.
Now, the proposed piece of legislation heads to the New York Assembly, where its fate is to be decided. For the time being the future of the S 3898 bill remains unclear, especially considering what happened over the past two years. Despite the fact that Assemblyman Gary Pretlow projected brighter future for the online poker bill earlier this year, his relationship with the matters of online poker remains complicated, and only hopes remain that the new bill’s reception would be more positive now.
Time is crucial as far as the fate of online poker legislation in New York is concerned. Although the State Senate has voted in favour of the proposed bill, the latter could remain dead for another year in case that the Assembly fails to come up with a decision until the end of the current legislative session or simply decides to once again suspend the bill with no further discussion like it did in 2016. There are only a few scheduled working days left on the legislative calendar, so whatever is the Assembly going to do, it better hurry up and do it quickly.
Senator Bonacic’s S 3898 Bill
As mentioned above, the bill seeks to make online poker legal in the state of New York, by categorising some poker variations as games of skill. In its basics, the bill pretty much corresponds to online gambling bills that have been proposed or enacted in other US states.
The bill sets a minimum age for the players who would like to take part in online poker activities. Individuals must be at least 21 years old and must be located within the state’s borders in order to play online poker under S 3898. The responsibilities related to oversight and regulation of the online gambling market in the state of New York are to be granted to the State Gambling Commission.
Of course, the proposed piece of legislation also sets the basic requirements in order for an operating license to be issued by the competent State authorities. A massive licensing fee of $10 million is also included. In addition, the S 3898 bill sets a tax rate of 15% of the gross gaming revenue generated by the online gambling operators.
The bill also would provide operators with the chance to ink partnership agreements with online gambling companies and take advantage of the latter’s online gambling software and solutions. More importantly, is the proposed bill is given the green light by the New York Assembly, it would allow the state to enter into interstate agreements with other states.
- Author
Daniel Williams
