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History
- Referred to racing, gaming and wagering
- Referred to racing, gaming and wagering
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
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Title of bill
An act to amend the general municipal law, the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law and the tax law, in relation to raising the minimum legal betting age from eighteen to twenty-one years
Purpose
To raise the minimum legal betting age in New York with regard to all forms of gambling, except charitable bingo.
Summary of provisions
This legislation raises the minimum legal betting age from eighteen to twenty-one for charitable games of chance, pari-mutuel wagering and the state lottery, including "Quick Draw."
Existing law
At present, the minimum legal betting age for the types of gambling affected by this legislation is eighteen; that for "Quick Draw" played at locations licensed to serve alcohol is twenty-one.
Justification
In recent years, the problem of teenage gambling has rivaled drug abuse as a social concern. A recent study by the Harvard Medical School found that between 6.4 and 8.5 percent of suburban Boston high school students surveyed were classified as compulsive gamblers. Unfortunately, the endorsement of gambling as an approved lifestyle by the state has contributed to this growing problem. At present, in New York, an eighteen-year-old may legally play craps or roulette at a "Las Vegas night;" place a bet at an am parlor; or take a hit of video crack every five minutes in front of a "Quick Draw" terminal.
This legislation would make twenty-one the legal gambling age. And as the twenty-one-year-old drinking age has saved lives on the highway and deferred the age at which young people first experience alcohol, a twenty-one year-old gambling age will, I believe, produce more responsible gambling behavior and have a positive impact on the problem of compulsive gambling.
Legislative history
S.97 of 2007-08; S.404 of 2005-06; S.16 of 2003-04; S.182 of 2001-2002; S.1380 of 1999-2000; S.1726 of 1997-98; S.5948 of 1995-96.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
The thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.