Hochul vetoes downstate New York casino timeline bill

Ironically, the first deadline in the bill has already passed. It set the deadline for applications at 31 August 2024. Under the timeline set by the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC), applications for the three downstate licences are due by 27 June 2025.

There are 11 proposed casino projects in and around New York City for which plans have been revealed. But no bidder has yet submitted a formal application.

S9673A provided that the community advisory boards that must examine bids for casinos in their districts were to be established within 30 days after applications closed. Decisions would have been then required after 120 days of consideration. The decision on licences under the bill carried the same deadline as the current NYSGC timeline. The Gaming Facility Location Board is to award the three downstate licences by 31 December 2025.

Hochul said in her veto message that “altering the timeline” for casino licensing would be unfair to some bidders. “Changing the timeline … would likely have the impact of helping certain bidders and hurting others,” Hochul wrote. “I cannot support a bill that aims to change the rules in the middle of the process.” 

She also defended the current timeline. “As part of the process, applicants are required to work with local governments so that their projects fall within the respective zoning laws of the municipalities,” she wrote. “Potential applicants have been continuously working toward ensuring that their projects are compliant.”

Addabbo Responds to Hochul

State Senator Joseph Addabbo, Jr., the bill’s senate sponsor, released a statement today (26 November) criticising the veto.

“Codifying a timeframe for an already unduly prolonged downstate casino process would merely improve the process by allowing it to actually begin accepting applications,” Addabbo wrote, “thus informing the unions and residents of New York when quality job creation could be expected, allowing the MTA [Metropolitan Transit Authority] to calculate when to expect the funds from the licence fees and permitting it to project the significant future revenues from the casino’s operations.”

On Hochul’s statement that she couldn’t change the process midstream, Addabbo said, “My legislation was attempting to bring credibility to the current state of the downstate casino process, not to ‘alter the timeframe’ as stated in the governor’s veto message, since no codified timeframe to start accepting applications exists at all.

“The veto of S9673A would further delay the creation of thousands of union jobs, postpone guaranteed funding for the MTA projected to be initially over $2 billion, as well as ongoing tax revenue for the MTA. Therefore, what rational reason is there for the state to hinder the submission of applications for a downstate casino process indefinitely?”

Addabbo added that he intends to begin another attempt at timeline legislation. “I intend to reintroduce revised legislation that will codify the governor’s proposed timeframe to begin accepting applications in June 2025 and finalize the process in December 2025,” he said in the statement. “Codifying a timeframe does not ‘change the rules in the middle of the process’ as Governor also stated in her veto message… but will technically add validity to a process that is severely lacking structure and effectiveness by not having a statutory timeframe for accepting casino licence applications nor completion.”