Japan passed a landmark bill to legalize casinos late last year.

New York can only legalize casinos if two successively elected legislatures enact bills.

But they hope to campaign openly once lawmakers in Tokyo pass a measure to legalize casinos.

Governor Deval Patrick, who rejected the last effort to legalize casinos, has expressed support for the bill's main tenets.

New York can only legalize casinos if two successively elected legislatures enact bills, meaning the legislature would take to approve the measure again next session.

Still, Galaxy faces strong competition to win rights to run a resort in Japan, which legalized casinos late last year.

Under his leadership, Japan aggressively bid to host the Olympics, legalized casinos, and courted foreign investment in the hospitality sector.

Japan legalized casinos in December, attracting international operators including Las Vegas Sands LVS.N, Galaxy Entertainment Corp GALE.BO and MGM Resorts International MGM.N.

These come at a time when Macau is facing mounting competition from emerging Asian casino hubs, including Japan that legalized casinos in December.