The New York State Legislative Calendar closes on Monday, June 20, giving bill A04146A mere days to pass. If the bill passes, mixed martial arts become legal in New York state. MMA has been illegal in NY since 1997.
A search of the bill on the NY State Assembly website shows that the bill had been referred to the Ways and Means Committee on June 13, but that no vote is currently scheduled on the bill.
Last week, the NY Daily News reported that NY State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver had the following to say about the bill to make MMA legal in New York, “There does not appear to be widespread support in the Assembly for this legislation.”
With the window to get the bill passed quickly closing, UFC president Dana White made a last-minute plea to the people of New York. White took to the Op Ed page of the NY Daily News on Monday to make his case as to why MMA should be legalized in New York, one of only three states with an athletic commission where MMA is illegal.
In part White wrote:
“I won’t pretend to be objective. I run the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the single most popular MMA promotion company. While I think that our fans here in New York and the city would profit immensely from legalization, it will also certainly affect my bottom line.
But the benefits go far beyond my business. Bringing MMA to New York would make public policy sense in a city and state that need jobs and tax revenue badly.”
With no vote currently scheduled for the bill, A04146A faces a huge uphill battle for passage in 2011.
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