MMA Bill Close But Still Not Quite There

NEW YORK

A02604 - the Assembly bill that would make pro MMA legal in New York - is still just a few votes shy of the 76-vote minimum required for it to move to the floor. In other words, we're are damn close, and counting today there are only 15 session days left on the calendar.


Here's the New York Post with some insight:

Assembly sources say the effort is five or so votes short of the needed Democratic votes to move the measure to the floor for final legislative passage before the session ends in late June. Though it's believed the 76 votes are there to pass the measure in the Assembly, the Democrats who control the chamber won't let it come to the floor for a vote unless they can pass it without needing Republican votes.

There's also a noteworthy tidbit about the bill possibly being altered to make it more palatable.

In hopes of winning over fence-sitters, [Majority Leader Joseph] Morelle said he is looking at ways to possibly amend the bill to require a funding pool or more long-term insurance to cover serious injury than is already in the current legislation. He acknowledges the state does not require similar provisions for other contact sports like football, hockey and boxing.

Of course, the fear with altering the bill too much is that it's somehow infused with a poison pill that would make running MMA events here impractical. As an example, though the legislature in Connecticut passed a law allowing MMA in 2013, wording was added to their bill that made promoters more liable than usual for fighter injuries, so promoters have stayed away. We definitely don't want that happening here.