Genting Malaysia subsidiary Genting New York LLC has been named as one of the top 10 highest-spending lobbying entities in the state of New York in 2020, part of a renewed push to see casino gaming expanded downstate.
According to information in the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics 2020 Annual Report, published last Thursday 8 July, Genting New York LLC ranked sixth for highest-spending lobbying entities with US$1,221,000 spent on lobbyists.
It’s the first time since 2013, the same year voters approved changes to the constitution allowing up to seven non-Indian casinos state-wide, that Genting has featured in the New York’s top 10. Under those revised laws, an initial four casino licenses were issued for upstate New York locations in 2016 along with a seven-year exclusivity clause preventing the addition of up to three more licenses in the New York City area before 2023. Genting, which ultimately won a license for the Catskills region – around two hours north of New York City – opened Resorts World Catskills in 2018.
Although the Commission’s public ethics report does not outline details of lobbying campaigns, Genting New York’s 2020 investment coincided with a push by Governor Andrew Cuomo to fast-track a public tender for NYC casino licenses to 2021 due to the economic impacts of COVID-19. Those efforts, which would certainly have seen Genting New York push for full casino gaming at the EGM-only Resorts World New York City, were quashed earlier this year.
News of the company’s lobbying comes just weeks after group parent firm Genting Berhad launched the US$4.3 billion Resorts World Las Vegas. Chairman and CEO Lim Kok Thay has since outlined plans to bring all of Genting’s American assets together under one umbrella via a US listing.
Lobbying remains an important tool in the United States for special interest groups to push for reform. The US$268.1 million spent on lobbying in New York in 2020 represented the state’s second highest total of all time behind only the US$298.1 million spent in 2019.
The list of companies to have used lobbyists in New York last year also included Las Vegas Sands Corp.
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