Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner (D-Round Lake), chair of the Racing and Wagering Committee, announced she helped bring forward and pass in the Assembly a package of bills to promote safe, responsible gambling. “This weighty package of six bills, plus a resolution designating March as Problem Gambling Month, comes out of a legislative oversight hearing the committee held last year, establishes a framework of critical guardrails for mobile sports gaming, and ensures the health and safety of its participants are prioritized,” said Woerner.

“With the explosive rise of legal sports betting and mobile gambling, New Yorkers have more opportunities to wager than ever before. This new form of entertainment is a powerful economic driver, but we cannot ignore its impact on those with addictive tendencies,” Woerner continued. “That’s why strengthening protections against fraud and unfair wagers while supporting responsible gambling is crucial. I helped pass several bills to update New York’s gambling regulations, making this new industry a safer, more responsible part of our economy.”

Woerner’s legislation fills in regulatory gaps and protects vulnerable consumers by tightening up the account creation and sign-in protocols to reduce account sharing to keep underage young people off the betting apps, by using evidence-based criteria to identify at-risk behavior before an addiction starts, and by modernizing the process of voluntarily self-excluding from the state’s gaming venues (A.9113-B, A.9584-A). The resolution draws further awareness to problem gambling and the resources available to help. These commonsense safeguards are similar to those the state places on other potentially addictive products and services.

Fellow legislators recognize the role of enacting policies to reduce overall harm in online gambling, and Woerner is working to implement their policy solutions. A bill from Assemblymember Alex Bores establishes a task force to study prop bets, particularly "unders" a category of sports wager that are highly susceptible to manipulation (A.10538).

One of the more challenging aspects of the interface design of mobile gambling is the difficulty of tracking net wins and losses, a feature that many app developers deliberately design. To assist players in responsible betting, legislation introduced by Assemblywoman Rebecca Kassay would require monthly account activity statements to be available for each user (A.10329).

New York strictly regulates advertising for alcohol, tobacco and other addictive products. Building on that framework, a bill introduced by Assemblyman Clyde Vanel brings mobile gaming operators under the same advertising regulations in place for traditional racing and wagering facilities (A.382-A). Finally, the legislative package offers hope and resources to New Yorkers struggling with problem gambling. Addiction of any form is a disease that can be treated with effort and patience. Assemblymember Phil Steck’s bill ensures that treatment is accessible by requiring health insurers to cover problem gambling services (A.8518).

Phil Steck, Chair of the Committee on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, added, “New York has seen rapid growth in gambling, particularly with the expansion of mobile sports wagering, and with that growth comes a responsibility to protect the public and support those who may be struggling. My bill requiring health insurance plans to cover outpatient treatment for problem gambling is an important step because too many people who want help cannot access care when it is not consistently covered by insurance. As a result, many are forced to pay out of pocket or go without treatment altogether. At the same time, we cannot focus only on treatment after the fact. We also need strong safeguards in place to help prevent gambling addiction before it starts.”

Woerner reiterated, “The fact that gambling has proven to be such an incredibly popular form of entertainment, and for a percentage of players, a potentially devastating addiction, necessitates equally strong guardrails. I anticipate that more measures will be passed in the future as we focus on prevention strategies focused on how the design of the games themselves lead to compulsive play. We will continue to study the impacts of gambling addiction, illegal markets and other relevant issues as we work to protect consumers.”