MMA May Soon Be Legal in NY

[joecos]

NYC ABC affiliate KABC is reporting that the state senate has passed a bill legalizing MMA for New York State. Impetus for the bill is the current economy, and the huge budget deficit that the state is facing. Evidently, some in state govt. feel that they can raise revenue off of taxes on MMA events.

Can't get the video to embed:

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=7502761

[Alucard619]

Nice, about time this happened.

[BaronVonDingDong]

I'd rather they passed a budget, personally.

[Soldiermedic]

Is MMA really illegal in NY? Or is it like Massachusetts where it wasn't illegal like the UFC claimed, but doesnt have one sanctioning body? Cause there were smaller promotions that ran shows.

Not being an NY resident, I was just curious

[joecos]

Is MMA really illegal in NY? Or is it like Massachusetts where it wasn't illegal like the UFC claimed, but doesnt have one sanctioning body? Cause there were smaller promotions that ran shows.

Not being an NY resident, I was just curious

From Examiner.com:

In 1997, New York became one of the first places in the world to have commission sanctioning of Mixed Martial Arts. However, then governor George Pataki was a fierce opponent of the sport, referring to MMA as “barbaric.”

That same year, Pataki used the bully pulpit to have the sanctioning repealed and new legislation introduced banning MMA. The maneuver was later viewed to be a callous political maneuver to support fellow Republican and MMA detractor, John McCain, rather than a product of a moral belief. Pataki has since come out in support of the sport after McCain retracted his famous “human cockfighting” criticism of MMA.

*In 2007 and 2008, two separate bills were introduced to repeal the ban and reinstate MMA’s sanctioning. The 2007 bill was defeated in the New York State Senate after making it through the Assembly. The second bill was defeated at its first Assembly committee because of what NY Assemblyman Steve Englebright's office described as "a lack of understanding of the bill."

*In 2009, a new bill was introduced, designated A0-2009, again with the goal of reinstating sanctioning. This bill passed through the Parks, Tourism, and Sports Development Committee by an overwhelming margin. Later it would pass through Codes but get trapped in the Ways and Means Committee as time ran out in the legislative session.

[Lampa]

I spoke to the a press officer yesterday afternoon who said the Senate bill was in the stages just before being called to a final vote. If it actually did pass as reported that was incredibly fast.

The sister bill in the Assembly is almost ready, too. I just finished off an article on that progress a few hours ago. Details here.

Edit: I hate my double use of "maneuver" in the same sentence in that article cited above. It slipped by everyone else and I didn't catch it until after it had been out for a while.

[bctheory]

Looks like it did pass:
http://www.nysenate.gov/news/mixed-m...t-kevin-parker

and that the Assembly just referred their bill to Ways and Means:
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?def...ry=Y&Actions=Y

this be awesome

[Lampa]

Looks like it did pass:
http://www.nysenate.gov/news/mixed-m...t-kevin-parker

and that the Assembly just referred their bill to Ways and Means:
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?def...ry=Y&Actions=Y

this be awesome

Wow. That was quick for the Senate. Wish they gave me a call back if they were going to pass it a matter of hours later.

Assembly bill needs to hit Rules after Ways and Means, but this has been progressing surprisingly quickly.

[pumpkinhead]

legal in new york would be sweeet. that's a lot closer to home then where i've had to go to fight in the past :)
next step ontario!

[infinite su 47]

If it really is becoming legal in NY, this is very exciting news.