A big legal victory against commercialized gambling operators in New York

Victims of state government's commercialized gambling scheme experienced a major legal win yesterday in NY. Here is The New York Times coverage of the court decision declaring so-called "daily fantasy sports" (DFS) for what it really is: commercialized gambling. The New York State Constitution puts the power to expand gambling into the hands of the people, requiring a statewide vote. The NY Legislature, in partnership with powerful financial interests who stood to benefit from this latest form of commercialized gambling, tried to avoid this constitutional requirement when it pushed through a bill adding DFS to its existing wealth-extraction arsenal of lottery scratch tickets, electronic Quick Draw (i.e. Keno), regional casinos, and slot machine parlors. This victory is a direct result of the hard work and talent of Attorney Neil Murray. Despite the heavy demands of his practice, Neil has sacrificed an enormous amount of his time over the last twenty years to act against the injustice, poverty, and life-changing harm caused by commercialized gambling, especially in his home state of NY. This remarkable effort is his most recent achievement. The lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law was coordinated by Stop Predatory Gambling. It was filed on behalf of four plaintiffs who had suffered personal or family harm from gambling debts resulting from commercialized gambling promoted by the state. Commercialized gambling is America's biggest most-neglected problem. At a time when more than 60% of our citizens have less than $1000 in savings, people are on a collision course to lose more than $1 trillion of personal wealth to commercialized gambling over the next eight years. Our vision and plan is to reduce that financial harm by 50% during that span. The work of Attorney Murray moved us one step closer to achieving this goal. You can read the full decision here. Best, Les Bernal National Director Stop Predatory Gambling ________________________________ Who We Are — - A 501c3 non-profit based in Washington, DC, we are a national social reform network of citizens and organizations from across the U.S. - We believe in improving the lives of the American people with compassion and fairness, freeing us from the impoverishment, exploitation, and fraud that commercialized gambling spreads. - We are one of the most diverse organizations in the United States, one in which conservatives and progressives work side-by-side to improve the common good. What We Stand For — - We believe everyone should have a fair opportunity to get ahead and improve their future. - We believe every person’s life has worth and that no one is expendable. - We believe that a good society depends on the values of honesty, concern for others, mutual trust, self-discipline, sacrifice, and a work ethic that connects effort and reward. - We believe no government body should depend on predatory gambling to fund its activities. If you share our beliefs, please help sustain our work by making a tax-deductible, financial gift today of $10 or more

Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation 100 Maryland Avenue NE, Room 310  | Washington, District of Columbia 20002 (202) 567-6996 | les@stoppredatorygambling.org

New York State: Group Cries Foul on NY's Fantasy Sports Law

Group Cries Foul on NY's Fantasy Sports Law

By JOSH RUSSELL 

   ALBANY, N.Y. (CN) - A new lawsuit filed in Albany Supreme Court challenged the constitutionality of the New York legislature's legalization of "Interactive Fantasy Sports" gambling.
     The lawsuit coordinated by Stop Predatory Gambling, an anti-gambling group, argued that New York State Constitution §9.1 prohibits gambling and pool-selling, except for specifically granted exemptions, including wagering on horse races, charitable contests, a limited number of commercial casinos and the state-operated lottery.
     The lawsuit seeks a judgment declaring Chapter 237 of 2016 New York State law unconstitutional and injunction prohibiting the implementation of the legalization of "Interactive Fantasy Sports" gambling.
     FanDuel and DraftKings, major daily fantasy sports websites, suspended their operations on March 21, 2016, amidst lawsuits filed by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in New York Supreme Court calling the online contests gambling and also alleging consumer fraud and deceptive advertising.
     Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is named as a defendant in the latest lawsuit, signed legislation on August 3, 2016, legalizing daily fantasy sports in New York.
     At the time of the signing Cuomo said, "This new legislation strikes the right balance that allows this activity to continue with oversight from state regulators, new consumer protections, and more funding for education." 
     The lawsuit points out that the August legislation legalized online sports gambling just in time for the Sept. 16 kickoff of the National Football League's 2016 season.
     New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman blasted DraftKings and daily fantasy sports gambling in a November 2015 cease-and-desist letter, in which he said "Like most gambling operations, DraftKings' own numbers reveal a far different reality."
     Schneiderman elaborated in his cease-and-desist order, "In practice, DFS [daily fantasy sports] is far closer to poker in this respect: a small number of professional gamblers profit at the expense of casual players. To date, our investigation has shown that the top one percent of DraftKings' winners receive the vast majority of the winnings."
     A spokesperson for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman commented that daily fantasy sports "are creating the same public health and economic concerns as other forms of gambling, including addiction. Finally, DraftKings' advertisements seriously mislead New York citizens about their prospects of winning"
     The lawsuit noted that fantasy sports are included in Gamblers Anonymous' list of activities it defines as gambling.
     New York supporters of Stop Predatory Gambling helped bring the lawsuit.
     "We believe in improving the lives of the people of New York," said Les Bernal, Stop Predatory Gambling's National Director. "Daily fantasy sports gambling is a huge rip-off for all citizens, regardless whether you gamble or not."
     The New York State Gaming Commission offered no comment, referring inquiries to the New York State Attorney General's Office, which is handling the litigation.
     The plaintiffs are represented by Cornelius Murray at O'Connell & Aronowitz in Albany, New York.
     The complaints were not made available to the public by the court as of press time. Courthouse News obtained the complaints on the Stop Predatory Gambling site as part of this blog post: http://stoppredatorygambling.org/blog/spg-helps-to-file-constitutional-challenge-of-nys-internet-gambling-law/. 

http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/10/06/group-cries-foul-on-nys-fantasy-sports-law.htm

New York State: Group Cries Foul on NY's Fantasy Sports Law

Group Cries Foul on NY's Fantasy Sports Law

Courthouse News Service

The lawsuit coordinated by Stop Predatory Gambling, an anti-gambling group, argued that New York State Constitution §9.1 prohibits gambling and ...

Group Cries Foul on NY's Fantasy Sports Law

By JOSH RUSSELL 

ALBANY, N.Y. (CN) - A new lawsuit filed in Albany Supreme Court challenged the constitutionality of the New York legislature's legalization of "Interactive Fantasy Sports" gambling.
     The lawsuit coordinated by Stop Predatory Gambling, an anti-gambling group, argued that New York State Constitution §9.1 prohibits gambling and pool-selling, except for specifically granted exemptions, including wagering on horse races, charitable contests, a limited number of commercial casinos and the state-operated lottery.
     The lawsuit seeks a judgment declaring Chapter 237 of 2016 New York State law unconstitutional and injunction prohibiting the implementation of the legalization of "Interactive Fantasy Sports" gambling.
     FanDuel and DraftKings, major daily fantasy sports websites, suspended their operations on March 21, 2016, amidst lawsuits filed by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in New York Supreme Court calling the online contests gambling and also alleging consumer fraud and deceptive advertising.
     Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is named as a defendant in the latest lawsuit, signed legislation on August 3, 2016, legalizing daily fantasy sports in New York.
     At the time of the signing Cuomo said, "This new legislation strikes the right balance that allows this activity to continue with oversight from state regulators, new consumer protections, and more funding for education." 
     The lawsuit points out that the August legislation legalized online sports gambling just in time for the Sept. 16 kickoff of the National Football League's 2016 season.
     New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman blasted DraftKings and daily fantasy sports gambling in a November 2015 cease-and-desist letter, in which he said "Like most gambling operations, DraftKings' own numbers reveal a far different reality."
     Schneiderman elaborated in his cease-and-desist order, "In practice, DFS [daily fantasy sports] is far closer to poker in this respect: a small number of professional gamblers profit at the expense of casual players. To date, our investigation has shown that the top one percent of DraftKings' winners receive the vast majority of the winnings."
     A spokesperson for New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman commented that daily fantasy sports "are creating the same public health and economic concerns as other forms of gambling, including addiction. Finally, DraftKings' advertisements seriously mislead New York citizens about their prospects of winning"
     The lawsuit noted that fantasy sports are included in Gamblers Anonymous' list of activities it defines as gambling.
     New York supporters of Stop Predatory Gambling helped bring the lawsuit.
     "We believe in improving the lives of the people of New York," said Les Bernal, Stop Predatory Gambling's National Director. "Daily fantasy sports gambling is a huge rip-off for all citizens, regardless whether you gamble or not."
     The New York State Gaming Commission offered no comment, referring inquiries to the New York State Attorney General's Office, which is handling the litigation.
     The plaintiffs are represented by Cornelius Murray at O'Connell & Aronowitz in Albany, New York.
     The complaints were not made available to the public by the court as of press time. Courthouse News obtained the complaints on the Stop Predatory Gambling site as part of this blog post: http://stoppredatorygambling.org/blog/spg-helps-to-file-constitutional-challenge-of-nys-internet-gambling-law/. 

http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/10/06/group-cries-foul-on-nys-fantasy-sports-law.htm

Pete Iorizzo: Fantasy games pave way for sports betting

By Pete Iorizzo

Updated 7:34 pm, Saturday, August 6, 2016

If daily fantasy sports isn't gambling, then I'm going to be the starting quarterback for the New York Jets this season.

The bill signed into law by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday makes it legal to win or lose money — or ... you know ... gamble — based on the performance of your imaginary team of real players.

Lawmakers essentially ran an end-around play to elude another state law that makes games of "chance" illegal, instead defining daily fantasy sports as games of "skill."

Please. If you've had your fantasy football season waylaid by a balky hamstring, then you know that even the geekiest stat-heads can't succeed without some good fortune.

To be clear, though, this isn't to argue that daily fantasy sports should be illegal.

Sure, I can think of better things to do with your paycheck than letting it ride on the Arizona Cardinals' kicker and Cleveland Browns' running back. But who am I — and who is the state of New York — to tell you how to spend your money? Some of us collect stamps, some of us have FanDuel accounts. To each his own.

But defining lottery games, daily fantasy sports and horse racing as legal forms of entertainment while prohibiting bets on the Cowboys-Steelers game as a threat to civil society is so blatantly hypocritical that it's not sustainable.

It won't happen overnight, but the real takeaway from the state's thumbs-up to daily fantasy sports should be that we've taken a step closer to fully legalized sports wagering.

The major hurdle remains a 1992 federal law called the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which bans most forms of sports wagering in all but four states.

That law already has been challenged by New Jersey, where in 2012 Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill legalizing sports betting in the state. That's not to say there is now fully legalized sports betting in New Jersey. The state has lost suits from the four major sports leagues that have argued New Jersey is in violation of the 1992 federal law, though the appeals process continues.

But this is a case in which the court of public opinion could factor significantly. With public pressure and lobbying from the major sports leagues, Congress could change the 1992 law, an outcome that isn't all that far-fetched, several legal experts tell me.

Expanding the right to bet on sports seems to be one of the few issues on which most Americans agree. An estimated 57.4 million people play daily fantasy sports in the United States and Canada, according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. And each year an estimated $400 billion is wagered illegally.

Guess what: People like to bet on sports.

And though the major sports leagues vehemently have resisted New Jersey's push to have the federal law struck down, their opposition is much more nuanced than it might appear.

Many professional sports teams now are invested in daily fantasy companies, a sign they're not queasy about getting cozy with wagering. NBA commissioner Adam Silver even wrote an op-ed for the New York Times in 2014 calling for more widespread legalization. The NHL is putting a team in Las Vegas, and the NFL is talking about doing the same.

Their real opposition to New Jersey's push is that it would legalize sports betting without establishing a federal framework for regulation. Probably, the leagues have their self-interests in mind, too. If we're going to have fully legalized sports gambling, the owners will want a cut.

"It seems there is a lot of hypocrisy in the sports leagues' sustained opposition," says Marc Edelman, a professor of law at Baruch College's Zicklin School of Business. He'll appear Wednesday at the Saratoga Institute on Equine, Racing and Gaming Law Conference's panel discussion on sports wagering.

"They seem opposed to traditional sports gambling when they're not in a position to profit directly from the activity, but they're more willing to accept it if they are. ... It seems reasonably likely to believe that at least the four traditional sports leagues would support the repeal of PASPA if sports gambling would lead to direct profit to their owners."

How might that happen? Owners could become shareholders in sports wagering organizations, just as they have made chunky investments in daily fantasy companies.

In New York, repealing PASPA would make it possible for the new casino being built in Schenectady to include a sports book. In fact, it seems inevitable that someday you'll be able to drive down Erie Boulevard to bet the Giants and the over.

The effort to continue banning sports betting seems awfully futile when you consider that so many of us already do.

http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-sports/article/Pete-Iorizzo-Fantasy-games-pave-way-for-sports-9127023.php

How gambling and greedy governments may shape the future of Long Island

Greg Blass

How gambling and greedy governments may shape the future of Long Island

by Greg Blass Jul 18, 2016

Should the Islandia Marriott Long Island Hotel, on the LIE’s north service road, be permitted a betting parlor? This would be a Suffolk County OTB “mini-casino.” If a Buffalo based developer has his way, he would buy the entire hotel, and lease space to OTB to operate a racing simulcast facility along with 1,000 video lottery terminals. This latest legalized gambling project for Long Island is worth our discussion, and gives good reason to look at the big, changing, gambling picture here and nationwide.

The Islandia Village Board held public hearings for this mini-casino project. Things did not go well. Citizens largely opposed it, concerned about a rise in crime and traffic, and a negative impact on property values. So the board scheduled for last Tuesday its vote for a special permit for the hotel’s mini-casino. But this pending vote put the village board members on edge. Then, with the vote a mere 24 hours away, these politicians got creative – they canceled the vote altogether. They gave no reasons, but clearly they relished the comfort of putting things off. One civic leader did say the mayor told him that they needed more time to look into things.

What overall has become of legalized gambling of late? In New York alone, how much of government life has it become? Will the big money that drives it bring it to the East End, maybe even to EPCAL at Calverton? Can local politicians resist the allure of its almost magical revenue? Does what’s best for working people and families matter at all?

A new book entitled, From Steel to Slots – Casino Capitalism in the Postindustrial City by Chloe E. Taft is a good place to start. Her enlightening history about gambling also describes the impact of a casino in a working family town, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

In little more than half a century, the United States has become a gambling nation. In the early 60s, Nevada was the only state on the map allowing casino gambling. None had lotteries. From then till now, however, what a change! Today, 28 states host casinos owned by American Indian tribes. Nineteen states boast of commercial casinos (i.e. run by private companies). Fourteen states permit racetracks offering casino gambling at “racinos.” Lotteries as we know them here in New York, are the pride of 44 state governments as well as Washington D.C. Utah and Hawaii are the only two left of those 49 in the early ’60s where both lotteries and casinos remain illegal. And how the legalized gambling states crave that revenue for enlarging government operations without raising taxes! But they raise taxes anyway – gambling just helps feed the growing government gorilla.

Just as government’s addiction to growth feeds increasingly on government-sponsored gambling, there grows as well an addiction to gambling among ordinary, hard-working folk. In a cruel irony, cash-hungry states feed on the uncontrollable urge of many people to keep on gambling despite the toll it takes on their lives. The American Gambling Association reports there are now more than 6 million adult compulsive gambling Americans addicted to gambling. And a study out of UCLA-San Diego found that both visitors and residents of gaming communities experience “significantly higher levels of suicide.” This study is one of several showing that Las Vegas “displays the highest levels of suicide in the nation.” Needless to say, Nevada has the highest level of addicted gamblers in the US.

The spreading ink blot of legalized gambling had all to do with one state permitting it so as not to lose gambling bucks to another where it had already been permitted – a sort of peer pressure among state governments. State by state, lotteries and casinos have almost imperceptibly become a normal feature of American life, right under the nose of the federal government and even the national news media.

As From Steel to Slots would tell it, the Bethlehem experience is quite instructive. As in New York and New Jersey, the Pennsylvania state legislature designated places where a casino would be permitted, and Bethlehem is one of them. In an effort to fill a void left by that city’s defunct steel industry, Bethlehem’s commercial casino draws all the gamblers it can from New York and New Jersey by the busload. The lingering fear in Bethlehem, however, is that all the jobs, revenues for governments, charitable donations and prosperity will prove temporary just as it did in Atlantic City, where the winning promise of gambling hit the money, only to be followed by bankrupt casinos lining the boardwalk. Pennsylvania has done well so far, but how reliable is their transition from manufacturing steel to manufacturing entertainment?

Lotteries are far different, employ few and build nothing. Yet lotteries put government in the proverbial catbird’s seat, raking in revenue from a form of gambling that they permit, then sponsor, then profit from.

Our own New York sponsors lotteries, and permits charitable and “pari-mutual” gambling as well as racetrack betting and parlors. It does not permit commercial casinos, but does allow American Indian casinos, whose revenues are dedicated to tribal purposes (with fat shares for greedy state and local governments.)

Long Island’s own Shinnecock Nation strives to lay claim to what had been its own lands on the East End. Their tenacity in court already gained them crucial tribal recognition, and if they hold out, who knows where their claim may go to enlarge their nation’s territory by many square miles on the South Fork. Any odds?

Shinnecock tribal leaders publicly state their aim with land reclamation is to gain “leverage” in locating a site for a casino, including one clearly attractive site, EPCAL at Calverton. EPCAL as a gambling center continues to be the subject of discussion among developers, real estate brokers, bankers and politicians. The Shinnecocks hear many a whispered word of encouragement from vested interests in New York City and Albany, and from as far away as the West Coast. The Shinnecocks are a far more sophisticated group than some want to admit, and they enjoy the advantage of being underestimated. Other Long Island tribes are moving in the same direction.

Suffice it to say that a tribal casino for Long Island is not as far-fetched an idea as it may have seemed, irrespective of where it is located. The intrigue continues. If, or when, it gains momentum, it will make the current mini-casino saga in Islandia look like small potatoes. The broader, long-term question persists: with casino gambling and all the “prosperity” it supposedly offers: Will Long Island’s own “Lady Luck” hang in, or run out?

Greg Blass has spent his life in public service since he enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a teenager. He has worked in the private sector as an attorney and served six terms representing the East End in the Suffolk County Legislature, where he was also presiding officer. Greg has worked as an adjunct professor at Suffolk County Community College, as Greenport village attorney, as N.Y. State family court judge and as Suffolk County social services commissioner. Now retired, Greg is active in volunteer work and is a member of the board of directors of several charities. A resident of Jamesport, he and his wife Barbara have two grown children.

http://riverheadlocal.com/2016/07/18/greg-blass-gambling-greedy-governments-may-shape-future-long-island/

Genting New York Reveals $400-Million Aqueduct Racetrack Expansion

June 29, 2016

A 750,000-square-foot expansion is planned for Aqueduct Racetrack in New York City, with construction work on the project set to commence in December. The expansion plan has not been introduced to the New York Racing Association (NYRA) yet.

The amount of $400 million will be spent on the project. Genting New York, the casino operator in charge of the racetrack and the nearby Resorts World Casino New York, said at a meeting with the NYRA Franchise Oversight Board that local officials have not been presented with rendering of how the upgraded facility would look. In addition, the project will need to be approved by the state in order to be materialized.

Genting New York is planning to add additional gambling space, hotel rooms, entertainment and retail areas at the existing racetrack.

Commenting on the announcement, Resorts World Casino New York President Ryan Eller told the board that the expansion project comes as the first phase of a larger plan for turning the racetrack into a full-scale integrated casino resort.

If the plan is given the green light, it might result in Genting New York positioning itself as one of the candidates for the operation of downstate full-fledged casinos once legislators and gambling regulators decide to provide the necessary licenses for the purpose. The said licenses would make it possible for video-lottery terminals to be replaced with real slot machines and table games to be added to gambling venues in the region.

The Franchise Oversight Board is responsible for monitoring NYRA’s finances. The NYRA itself operates racing options at Aqueduct. However, the association has not been presented with the expansion plan yet.

During the meeting with the Oversight Board, a member voiced concerns about the impact the project would have on purses if it fails. Questions were also raised about the extent of disruption on racing during construction. Expansion is expected to be completed early in 2019.

Mr. Eller admitted that there indeed will be significant negative impact on purses if the Aqueduct market does not expand as initially planned. He also noted that if New Jersey eventually legalizes the establishment of two commercial casinos outside Atlantic City, this would affect New York’s gambling market in quite a negative manner, as well.

http://www.casinonewsdaily.com/2016/06/29/genting-new-york-reveals-400-million-aqueduct-racetrack-expansion/

No verdict in Bonanno mob trial; deliberations resume Monday

Anthony Santoro (aka Skinny) is one of many Bonanno associates rounded up in Manhattan Criminal Court July 9 2013. (Joe Marino/New York Daily News) (Joe Marino)

By Mira Wassef | mwassef@siadvance.com 
Email the author | Follow on Twitter 
on May 05, 2016 

MANHATTAN, N.Y.-- After six days of deliberations, the jury in the Bonanno mob trial did not reach a verdict Thursday in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.

The deliberations will resume Monday.

Anthony (Skinny) Santoro, 52, of Great Kills, and his alleged Bonanno co-defendants -- Vito Badamo, 53, Nicholas Santora, 73, and Ernest Aiello, 36 -- are accused of enterprise corruption, including loansharking, gambling and drug dealing, after authorities reportedly busted the family's nine-man crew in July 2013.

On Thursday, the panel asked to hear a series of calls regarding a bettor who owed money from betting on allaction247.com, the gambling site Santoro allegedly ran.

In one of the calls, Santoro says, "I'm gonna split his f------ head open with a hatchet, to be honest with you."

"Biz, I'll put two holes in his f------ forehead, I'll double tap his forehead right now. I will go right now put two holes in his head. He'll be one dead young punk. I'll leave him in the street right now. I'll shoot him right now, right this minute. I'll take a shower and shave, just to go shoot him."

They jurors also asked for clarification regarding the difference between direct evidence and circumstantial evidence.

The panel asked the judge Wednesday for advice about resolving its disagreements so it can avoid a hung jury.

The skinny on 'Skinny' -- Man at center of mob trial

Anthony (Skinny) Santoro, the alleged Staten Island Bonanno mobster, has been portrayed with these conflicting -- yet fascinating -- personalities.

On Tuesday, the jurors requested to see all the photos from the trial, the vouchers from all the executed search warrants, and asked to hear calls involving Badamo, Santoro and Nicholas Bernhard, one of the other five co-defendants who pleaded guilty.

The panel also heard a car-bug call between Badamo and alleged Bonanno boss Santora. They also wanted to see the phone books and vouchers from Santora's home search.

The jurors had deliberated for two days before a week-long break and returned on Monday. On Monday, the panel asked to see evidence pertaining to  allaction247.com. They also asked to see the vouchers pertaining to the search warrant executed at Santoro's Tanglewood Drive residence in Great Kills.

During their brief discussions two weeks ago, they had questions about venue and the loansharking charge.

The panel was charged with the different elements constituting enterprise corruption, grand larceny in the second-degree and first-degree criminal usury.

The state claims Santora, who is allegedly nicknamed "Captain Crunch," is the crime family's ringleader. The prosecution says he was in charge of an Internet gambling site, sold prescription drugs, such as Cialis and Viagra, on the black market, and the other three defendants were his underlings.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/05/jury_2.html

BONANNO MOB TRIAL

• No verdict in Bonanno mob trial; deliberations resume Monday
• Jury in Bonanno mob trial asks for advice to avoid hung jury
• Still no verdict in Bonanno mob trial; deliberations resume Wednesday
• Jury does not reach verdict in Bonanno mob trial
• The skinny on 'Skinny' -- A look at man at center of the Bonanno mob trial

The New York SCAM!

Only politicians could subsidize and finance a profitable Slot Barn at the expense of children's education and pat themselves on the back! 

Budget shifts education funds to Resorts World casino

Resorts World. (wikipedia ) ****************



ALBANY — Tens of millions of dollars in revenue from Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct slated for state education will instead be invested in capital spending to expand the site, according to an agreement in the 2016-17 state budget approved last week.

Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, a Democrat from Mount Vernon, estimated the award to be $40 million a year going to Genting New York LLC., which operates Resorts World.

“That would be money that should be going to education and not to Genting, which is one of the richest companies in the world, a multi-billion dollar corporation,” he told POLITICO New York. “They don’t need to take money from children of New York to build a hotel or for any other reason.”

But state and Resorts World officials insisted that in the end, the investment will result in twice the amount of money being used for the casino's growth.

“Now that we are eligible to participate in the State's capital allowance program, we will be able to embark upon a considerable expansion of our facility, which will be developed in consultation with our local community partners,” Genting senior vice president of public affairs Michael Levoff said in an emailed statement. “This investment will lead to increased visitation, more good-paying local jobs and a significant increase in overall revenue for New York's education fund.”

The group already is in the process of planning a $300 million expansion, including hotel and meetings space, according to a source close to Resorts World.

Resorts World had more than $18 billion wagered on video gaming machines in its 2015-16 fiscal year, according to the most recent data from the state Gaming Commission that does not include the final month of March. Of that, slightly more than 95 percent is paid out in player winnings and the remainder, approximately 4 percent, is divvied up among state education, the state racing industry, and the proprietor. it amounts to about $727 million, according to the recent data.

In 2015-16, not counting March numbers, Resorts World contributed more than $337 million to state education — about 44 percent of the revenues.

The state budget affects that bottom line in two ways. First, it authorizes Aqueduct to operate 1,000 of Nassau County's video slot machines, as was first reported by Newsday last week.

Under the provisions of the deal, which are not included in the budget, Resorts World will pay Nassau County Off-Track Betting $9 million in 2016, $9 million in 2017 and $25 million in 2018 and beyond, with future payments adjusted for inflation, officials said.

Resorts World currently has 5,547 “video lottery terminals,” so the addition of 1,000 more is expected to increase profits, officials said.

“It’s a win-win for everybody involved,” Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder of Queens told POLITICO New York. “Nassau County gets to relinquish themselves of having to find a place for these slot machines. No community across Nassau County could agree on where these machines should go, and Aqueduct is the perfect place," Goldfeder said. "Resorts World is the perfect partner to continue to grow the casino and grow development toward that successful entity well into the future.”

It also means no competition for Resorts World in Nassau County, Goldfeder said.

Another provision in the budget awarding capital to Resorts World had some lawmakers concerned.

When 400 machines become active at Resorts World, or by April 1, 2019, whichever comes first, 1 percent of the revenues that currently go towards education will instead go towards capital, state officials said.

That award will increase to 4 percent going forward after the total of 1,000 VLTs are put in place, state officials said.

Due to the complex calculation process it was unclear Tuesday how much money this would mean. For example, 1 percent of the current education contribution works out to more than $3 million and increases to nearly $14 million at 4 percent. If it’s based on the “net win,” meaning the revenues taken in after the prizes are paid out, those numbers jump to nearly $8 million at 1 percent and more than $30 million at 4 percent, based on the most recent fiscal year numbers.

Unlike some casinos in the state that already have this capital award included in their calculations, Aqueduct was originally awarded a flat $250 million towards capital expenditures, state officials said. To help the facility continue to develop, the new capital award was added in the state budget, officials said.

Pretlow said he didn’t mind the deal for the 1,000 VLTs, but was against the capital award.

“We’re reducing our education fund by an enormous amount. We loved the small gains that we made in education, but then to turn around and to give away $35 million every year forever out of the education fund is I think a travesty and a miscarriage and we really have to address that and take it away,” Pretlow said.

Morris Peters, a spokesman for the state's Budget Division, said it would be made up as revenue increased.

“The reduction of the statutory aid-to-education percentage is more than made up for by the capital award allocation,” Peters told POLITICO New York in an email. “The goal is to increase education revenues — we wouldn't make a change with an adverse impact."

Resorts World contributed more than $1.1 billion to state education since opening in 2011, according to most recent data.

"Resorts World has to constantly innovate and improve our customer experience to remain competitive in an increasingly uncertain and crowded market,” Levoff said in the statement.

Read the Resorts World financial breakdown here: http://on.ny.gov/1SyY2Pn


http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2016/04/8595845/budget-shifts-education-funds-resorts-world-casino