Coalition Against Gambling in New York.
The History of Gambling in New York
Gambling (or lotteries as it was called) was first banned in the Second Constitution of the State of New York ("The 1821 State Constitution") in Article VII § 11 which provided "No lottery shall hereafter be authorized in this state; and the legislature shall pass laws to prevent the sale of all lottery tickets within this state, except in lotteries already provided for by law." The Third Constition of the State of New York ("The 1846 Constitution") in Article I § 10 provided "nor shall any lottery hereafter be authorized, or any sale of lottery tickets allowed within this state." The Fourth Constitution of the State of New York ("The 1894 Constitution") in Article I § 9 provided "nor shall any lottery or the sale of lottery tickets, pool-selling, book making, or any other kind of gambling hereafter be authorized or allowed within this State; and the Legislature shall pass appropriate laws to prevent offenses against any of the provisions of this section." The Constitutional Convention of 1938 did not write a new Constitution. It did succeed in getting voter approval of a number of significant amendments to the Constitution none of which affected the prohibition on gambling. Article I § 9 was amended on November 7, 1939 by a vote of 1,225,495 to 594,811 to permit pari-mutuel betting on horse races. This provision of the State Constitution was next amended on November 5, 1957 to permit the conduct of bingo games by certain organizations under state regulation and local government supervision by a vote of 1,818,353 to 1,175,820. Then on November 8, 1966 this provision was amended by a vote of 2,464,898 to 1,604,694 to permit state lotteries for the support of education in this state. The next amendment to this provision passed on November 4, 1975 to permit the limited conduct of certain games of chance by religious, charitable or certain non-profit organizations by a vote of 1,497,217 to 1,491,943. The last amendment to this provision was on November 6, 1985 by a vote of 1,803,103 to 1,387,489 to permit the dollar amounts of prizes for certain games of chance, now restricted by the constitution, may be changed by the legislature. The most recent attempt to amend this provision of the State Constitution was initiated in 1995 when the legislature passed Senate Bill S5557. This bill proposed amending the State Constitution to permit casino gambling in certain cities and counties of the State. This bill did not pass the in the 1997 session of the legislature and died there.
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