The state of New York took one of the worst hits during the pandemic. Now, with increasing budget deficits, two lawmakers claim that online New York sports betting could get a second look in the state.

New York may need online sports betting

Speaking at an industry conference, Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow and State Senator Joseph Addabbo said that online betting legislation can pass the legislature this year. The state is facing a multibillion-dollar shortfall because of which they believe that other elected officials will be sympathetic to their cause.

Pretlow commented,

“My colleagues know that we need the money and there will be revenue deficiencies next year compared to this year, so I don’t think it’s a hard sell for the cause of tens of millions of additional revenues. They can’t thumb their nose at it.”

Online betting hasn’t caught on to date

Both Addabbo and Pretlow have been the most vocal advocates of online sports betting in New York. However, it has gained little momentum till in the legislature. With the state facing the aftermath of a pandemic, the lawmakers expect that it will finally pay heed to online wagering.

Pretlow confirmed that Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie is planning to include online sports wagering in an upcoming revenue bill. The bill will be up for discussion this month. On Tuesday, while talking at the Betting on Sports American Digital conference, he said that both Senate and Assembly will be including sports betting proposals in their budget proposals this year.

If the lawmakers do not take up sports betting during the revenue bill discussion in December, they will have three months to consider a drastically smaller budget before the April 1 ratification deadline arrives. Mobile sports betting is not a part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget proposals. He has already announced a $10 billion spending cut because of the pandemic. There is little interest in real money poker and online casino gaming as well.