Bailout bill includes money for NYRA and life for NYC OTB
April 13, 2010 at 5:03 pm by James M. Odato
The Assembly is considering a bill crafted by the Paterson administration that would give $17 million in borrowed funds to the New York Racing Association. The measure is aimed at keeping New York City Off-Track Betting Corp. in business by restructuring statutory payments made to operators of race tracks in New York. NYC OTB would pay such tracks 15 percent less. As a result, lobbyists for harness tracks in particular are trying to kill or amend the bill, which may be pretty easy because Senate votes are not at all assured. “I’ve got a harness track in my district,” said Sen. Thomas Libous, R-Binghamton. “Why should I vote for it?”
Harness track proponents are trying to get something in return for losing 15 percent in payments, such as longer hours of operations for VLT parlors or authorization for video table games. NYRA, which had already been suffering cash flow problems that resulted in threats of suspending racing, would get a spin-up of funds that it had been expecting from a video lottery terminal facility that has been planned for Aqueduct, one of the three tracks NYRA runs. Since the Aqueduct facility has not been built, and NYRA was supposed to get revenues from it starting last year, the state would help the association out by letting NYRA receive money now that it would have to pay back later to whoever runs the Aqueduct racino.
The $17 million is coming from $250 million the state would raise by issuing bonds for the Aqueduct project. The $250 million has been promised to the operator of the racino and is supposed to be used to build the VLT facility. Assembly Racing & Wagering Committee Chairman Gary Pretlow, D-Mount Vernon, said the bill is getting reviewed and he is unsure if it will be passed.