NY Senate passes MMA bill, for 7th time
For the seventh time the New York Senate has passed a bill to legalize and regulated mixed martial arts; it now goes to the house, but the session ends this week.
For nine years UFC representatives have gone to NY’s capitol Albany to try to get the sport legalized and regulated. Five times it passed the Senate but Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver refused to bring it to a vote. In January, Silver resigned as Speaker, following his arrest on corruption charges. The new Assembly Speaker, Carl Heastie, is a past supporter of the bill.
This year the bill again passed the Senate, but it did not get sufficient support in the Assembly. Now the Senate has passed a new version, in hopes that it will pass before the 2015 legislative session ends for the year. The legislative session is scheduled to end on Wednesday, but many expect it to extend through the week.
The Legislature’s upper chamber voted 49-13 in favor of a newly revamped bill that would legalize the violent combat sport while setting up a $50,000 accident insurance requirement for fight cards and allowing the state Athletic Commission to regulate amateur fights.
The bill now heads to the Assembly, which has long been the roadblock to New York becoming the 50th state to allow the sport on a professional basis. But supporters of the legislation are hopeful the insurance-related changes could help garner support in the Democrat-led chamber.
We negotiated and got the promoters to agree: This now will cover amateur mixed-martial arts as well as professional boxing, Sen. Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, Oneida County, the bill’s sponsor, said of the insurance provisions. It’s a step forward, as indicated by the discussions we’ve had here and concerns that had been raised by members.
Nine Democrats and five Republicans voted against the bill, including longtime MMA critic Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan.
Its’ going to kill you, and it’s probably not the greatest activity to spend your time having fun with non-professionally and not a really great career move professionally, even if you think you’re having a good time now, Krueger said.
She continued: I’ll be voting no, and yet I will say I am less uncomfortable if this becomes the law of New York state than the previous versions we have debated here on the floor.
I’ve heard talks that the bill could come out today, possibly tomorrow, said Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, an MMA supporter.
The bill has the backing 78 Democratic lawmakers, meaning the legislation now has a majority of the majority conference — a key trigger for any bill that comes to the floor, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie has said.
There’s a great chance that it will pass, Santabarbara said. We’re going to keep our fingers crossed here.