As reported here at Cagepotato.com, the bill to legalize MMA in New York has cleared the Committee on Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development again. As I previously posted in a series here, the bill still has a long way to go before it becomes law in New York.
Last year the bill passed through both the Committee on Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development and the Codes Committee, and ultimately stalled out in the Ways & Means Committee. Because it stalled, it needed to be reintroduced again this year in the Tourism Committee -- essentially it started over.
The Cagepotato article states that if the "[Codes] committee okays the bill, the fate of MMA in New York will rest with the votes of the State Assembly." However, as was the case last year, the bill will likely need to move through Codes and then through Ways and Means. At that point, if it can pass Ways and Means (unlike last year where it stalled), it may still go to another "committee" if the Speaker dictates or it may go to the full Assembly. If it passes the Assembly, it goes to the Senate and, if it passes there unaltered, it goes to Governor Paterson for his signature.
While any positive movement is a good sign, ultimately, the bill still has a long way to go and, as I have written before, whether the bill gets passed will likely have a lot to do with where the Assembly Speaker stands on the bill.
Fight Lawyer
