ALBANY — A bill to widely authorize sports gambling in New York likely won't be put to a vote before lawmakers end their annual session Wednesday.
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, said Thursday that Democrats have a "broad spectrum of concerns" about the bill, casting doubt that those concerns can be addressed with just three working days left in the 2018 legislative session.
Professional sports leagues and gambling companies have pushed the bill in Albany after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the federal sports-gambling ban last month.
Heastie said he doesn't anticipate the bill being put to a vote by Wednesday, when lawmakers are scheduled to return to their districts for the rest of the year.
Assembly Democrats, who control the chamber by a wide margin, discussed the issue in private Tuesday.
"Members raised significant issues, so I would say at this point there isn’t enough support within the Democratic conference to want to go forward on sports gambling," Heastie said.
A 2013 state law authorized sports gambling at four upstate casinos: del Lago in Seneca County, Tioga Downs in Tioga County, Resorts World Catskills in Sullivan County and Rivers in Schenectady.
But that law is very narrow: Bets must be placed in person at the casinos, which would prohibit mobile betting.
Major League Baseball, the NBA and the PGA Tour had been among those urging lawmakers to pass a broader law that would broaden protections, offer mobile betting and include a royalty fee that would go to the leagues.
But the Assembly Democrats' concerns coupled with a gridlocked state Senate, where Democrats and Republicans are both one vote short of a majority, appears to have led to the bill's demise in 2018.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo also never signaled support for the measure, casting doubt whether lawmakers had enough time to negotiate such a weighty measure this year.
State regulators, meanwhile, must set rules for the four private upstate casinos before sports gambling can proceed under the 2013 law.
At a meeting May 21, the head of the state Gaming Commission signaled regulators are crafting rules and pledged to have a draft version done "soon."
A neighboring state, meanwhile, has already approved sports betting.
New Jersey, which led the court battle to overturn the federal ban, allowed legal sports betting to begin within its borders Thursday.
