UPDATE: State meets obligation to NYRA; Legislature OK's advance

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by parsixfarms

I wouldn't get too much hope on NYCOTB going away in this legislative session, due to union influence. The NYRA loan should have been an easy lift, but they had to put this in the emergency extender instead of doing it as a stand-alone bill as a result of union influence with Senate Democrats: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories...storyID=934349

Certainly right regarding the union which has been the obstacle at every turn in any of the NYC OTB negotiations... So, let the union keep the bricks and mortar location jobs... but turn the internet and phone wagering over to NYRA Rewards to run. This came within inches of happening several weeks ago.

Originally Posted by philcski

Might as well merge the entire OTB network into NYRA, or alternatively give Western OTB to Finger Lakes and the rest to NYRA.

As to the consolidation of the other regional OTB corporations, the Task Force on the Future of OTB report addressed that quite coherently. Of course the report and its' suggestions, which weren't all ideal but had a lot of merit, is already gathering dust in Albany.