Times Union – A statewide vote to amend the constitution by allowing up to seven new full-gaming casinos in New York has been engineered in the Capitol over two legislative sessions, the culmination of years of debate touching on economic development, quality of life and the social costs of problem gambling.
But with just seven weeks to go before voters decide the issue in November’s general election, the silence from advocates and opponents is deafening.
That can be ascribed in large part to the recently ended primary campaign season that, upstate and down, included virtually no debate about the casino plan.
“We’re just taking a minute. … I think people have a lot of fatigue from the (primary) election,” said Heather Briccetti, president and CEO of the state Business Council.
Briccetti’s group is already in discussions with other organizations on a campaign to support passage of the referendum, though those plans remain conceptual. “I expect that it’s going to be multiple stakeholders. … There’s nothing concrete,” she said.
The New York Gaming Association, which represents the nine VLT parlors already at state racetracks, supports passage of the measure but isn’t planning any public outreach.
“The Gaming Association is supportive of the referendum, and believes it should be passed,” said Albany attorney James Featherstonhaugh, the association’s president and a principal in Saratoga Casino and Raceway.
His group believes racetrack casinos should be among the first in line for the new full-gaming franchises because they would be able to quickly refit their operations, and because of the money they’ve already made for the state. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has resisted this idea, and expressed his low opinion for current revenue-sharing arrangements between the state and the VLT facilities.
But legislation passed earlier this year, and gaming compacts reached between the Cuomo administration and three native tribes, have carved several of the Gaming Association’s members out of contention, while others — including Saratoga — remain possibilities.
The referendum “obviously affects different members differently,” Featherstonhaugh said. Consequently, “I do not expect the association to itself play any active role in the campaign.”
