Non-Native casinos and racinos in the Finger Lakes and Western New York region have formed a coalition seeking a voice in the ongoing negotiations between the state and the Seneca Nation of Indians over a new gaming compact to replace the one that expires December 9.
The Fair Compact for All Coalition includes representatives from del Lago Resort and Casino, Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack, Hamburg Gaming and Batavia Downs. According to the group’s website, the goal is to ensure any new Seneca gaming compact protects the future of their operations and the communities they say have come to depend on the revenues and employment they provide.
The coalition stressed that those facilities employ more than 3,500 New Yorkers, the majority of whom are union members, and pay close to $180 million in annual state gaming taxes. Rochester Workers United and Horsemen’s Benevolent Protective Association are also part of the effort.
“We cannot and will not tolerate any middle-of-the-night deals that lack transparency, public input and data-driven economic analysis,” Finger Lakes Gaming President and General Manager Chris Riegle said, according to Spectrum Local News. “We welcome competition, but we can’t compete without a level playing field. We look forward to working with our coalition members, local elected officials and representatives in Albany to secure a truly fair compact for all.”
The Senecas said their three casinos in Western New York and the Southern Tier account for thousands of local jobs, hundreds of millions of dollars in local wages and more than $1 billion in annual economic impact to the region.
The office of New York Governor Kathy Hochul and the Seneca Nation announced in June they had reached an agreement in principle on the new compact. The state House of Representatives refused to vote to allow the governor’s office to sign the compact, as required, after it was revealed the compact included a plan for a new Seneca casino in the Rochester area. The chamber adjourned without providing for the close of the deal.
Hochul herself is involved in the new negotiations. She had recused herself because her husband worked for Delaware North, a competitor of the Seneca casinos. Since he subsequently left that position, Hochul declared that she was now involved in the negotiations.
“In reality, the changes to the New York gaming market, and their continued impact on the promises made to the Seneca Nation under our compact, are central to our discussions with New York state,” Seneca President Rickey Armstrong Sr. told Spectrum Local News. “Although it has been nearly 60 days since our last negotiation meeting, we look forward to the state re-engaging in discussions soon, and hold optimism that important progress can be made.”
The Seneca Nation currently pays 25 percent of the revenue from slot machines to New York state, which returns a portion of those funds to Western New York municipalities impacted by the casinos in Salamanca, Buffalo and Niagara Falls.
