Bill To Legalize Mixed Martial Arts In New York Seemingly Dies In Committee

Bad news on the fight to have mixed martial arts legalized and sanctioned in the state of New York. According to Justin Klein (the “Fight Lawyer” and New York resident), the bill to get MMA legalized in the New York Assembly (A04146) is stalling in the Ways & Means Committee. Here’s the essence of his report:

As predicted (and as in past years), the MMA bill has again stalled in the New York State Assembly after passing the New York Senate and overwhelmingly passing the two committees where it was debated in the Assembly--Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development and Codes.
Unfortunately, the next committee in the process, Ways & Means, has issued its Agenda on this last day of the legislative session and it does not include the bill that would legalize MMA in New York.
While the legislative session could go a few days longer -- until Wednesday or Thursday perhaps -- the bill would still need to pass through W&M and Rules before going to the floor for a vote.

Klein argues there’s been significantly more vocal support for bill approval this year, and that’s true. There’s also been growth on the legislative vote front, meaning a clear majority of lawmakers would likely vote to sanction MMA were it to reach the Assembly floor. However, given parliamentary rules and entrenched power, such a possibility seems remote.

It’s also worth noting that while the tide is turning, most New Yorkers don’t yet support MMA in their state. There are a variety of explanations for this and in previous years it was due to little more than intentional design on the part of pollsters to achieve certain outcomes. But whatever the case, there isn’t a clear demonstration among New York residents this is something they desperately want. Whether they could force the hand of Sheldon Silver or Herman Farrell is an open question, but without a clear populist desire for change, it appears lobbying alone is insufficient.