Governor Andrew Cuomo is on board with regulated casino gambling in New York, and on Friday the governor began that process by submitting a bill to be reviewed and voted on in the House and Senate. The process is expected to be a lengthy one, with Cuomo expecting that it will take two years before the state can move forward with new casinos.

Currently, a gambling ban prevents casinos from opening in New York. Tribal casinos have opened, but not regulated casinos by private developers. The bill proposed today would exempt casinos from the gambling ban. In order to become an amendment, the bill must pass the legislature in two consecutive years, which is the reason for the two year plan presented by Cuomo.

New York has fallen behind other Northeastern states in recent years when it comes to the casino gambling industry. Maryland, Maine, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and now Massachusetts, have all altered their laws to allow for additional casino gambling. New York did benefit from the addition of a casino at the famed Aqueduct race track. The Aqueduct casino was approved over a decade ago, but the state did not find a developer for the gaming property until last year.

If Cuomo is able to convince lawmakers about the benefits that casino gambling could bring, he would stand to bring hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue into the state. Cuomo has seen how the gaming industry is exploding in other states, and analysts believe that gaming facilities in New York could garner even more support.

New York is considered one of the top five destination cities in the world, with millions of people walking the streets on any given day. Entertainment options are plenty in the state, but most lawmakers agree that casinos would be another draw that would increase the allure of the city. Cuomo began his push for regulated casino gambling in the second half of 2011.

One of the concerns about the bill proposed this week by Cuomo is the idea that specific locations for new casinos are not announced in the bill. Cuomo believes that the location of future casinos would be determined at a later date, once lawmakers were free to discuss casino gambling expansion.