New York Sen. Joseph P. Addabbo Jr. took the unusual step of emailing Bonus on Aug. 15 with a press statement about a published opinion piece regarding iGaming legalization. The lawmaker who introduces an online casino bill each year said he agreed with gaming attorney Daniel Wallach that future legislation should guarantee land-based casino employment remains the same after iGaming becomes law.
Wallach wrote an op-ed on Aug. 13 in Forbes that got attention from online gambling industry pundits.
For instance, Steve Ruddock said on Aug. 15 in his gaming industry insight newsletter Straight to the Point that Wallach may have a good idea:
It’s just crazy enough to work.
Addabbo, D-Woodhaven, had included a $25 million a year fund to retain and train New York’s land-based casino employees in his bill. However, the 2024 online casino, online poker, and iLottery bill failed.
A major reason for that failure was unwavering opposition from the casino workers’ union, the New York Hotel Trades Council (HTC).
HTC Political Director Bhav Tibrewal told Bonus at the time the bill was active in the Senate that the HTC believed iGaming would cause retail casino revenue cannibalization and result in job losses for HTC’s members. Tibrewal didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from Bonus.
Wallach Says to Guarantee Jobs After iGaming
Wallach asserted in his op-ed that guaranteeing current workers would keep their jobs may help Addabbo’s 2025 iGaming bill pass.
Part of what Wallach wrote in his lengthy op-ed includes the following:
Condition the granting of a casino’s iGaming license on its maintaining current employment levels (i.e., at least 100% of full-time equivalent employees as it employed in the year preceding the legalization of iGaming), and then condition future license renewals on the casino licensee’s pledge to increase the number of hospitality service jobs (and the pay associated with such jobs) tied to some performance benchmark (i.e., for every $20 million of annual casino revenue attributable to iGaming, the casino licensee must increase both the number of union jobs and pay by a specified percentage).
After all, if casino operators believe that the introduction of iGaming is going to boost their land-based revenues — as has consistently been the case in New Jersey and Pennsylvania — offering job protection guarantees as a condition of licensure should not be a heavy ask.
Addabbo Agrees With iGaming Bill Idea
Addabbo wrote in his Aug. 15 email to Bonus:
Consistent with what I stated in the past and this week at the Saratoga Racing and Gaming Conference, I believe Daniel Wallach was accurate in his approach with his Op-Ed to suggest a creative, innovative, legislative idea to advance iGaming in New York.
It is crucial to protect current brick and mortar casino jobs when entertaining the idea of introducing iGaming in New York.
I know that New York can be the model for other states, as we work towards groundbreaking, legal language to not only protect union casino jobs from any cannibalization, but also witness employment growth at those brick-and-mortar sites. All it will take is the willingness to discuss the inevitable issue of bringing iGaming to New York and creating legislative language that will cure the related concerns, while being viewed as the model for other states to utilize.
We have the ability to create thousands of union jobs, help the unidentifiable New Yorkers who may have a iGaming addiction problem, and provide billions in sustainable revenue, merely from having the willingness to talk about iGaming in New York.
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