State budget requires Rivers Casino to continue payments to Saratoga harness owners | The Daily Gazette
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CAPITOL A deal struck by the involved parties and included in the state budget will keep money from gaming at Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady flowing to the owners and trainers of harness racing horses at the Saratoga harness track.
Under the deal, Rivers will make about $1.8 million in payments for 2020, and going forward will pay a set percentage of slot machine revenue, in what Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, described as a good compromise. Including it in the state budget sets the formula in state law.
Bright spots for Capital Region seen in state budget
New Wadsworth Lab funding approved, many programs intact despite COVID
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Money for a new Wadsworth lab is in the state budget after years of trying.NYSDOH
With the broad contours of the $212 billion state budget in place, elected officials and others are sifting through some of the bright news in store for the Capital Region.
That includes a $750 million commitment to rebuild and consolidate the state’s venerable Wadsworth Center health and science labs along Brevator Avenue on the east end of the Harriman state office campus in Albany.
“It’s terrific news,” said Albany Democratic Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy, who with other local legislators has sought the project for years. Of the money allocated, $150 million is for site preparation with the rest toward building the center.
Saratoga horsepersons seek negotiations on casino payment | The Daily Gazette
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SARATOGA SPRINGS The Saratoga Harness Horseperson’s Association says it understands that disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have hurt Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady, but say it has hurt them too, with fans not allowed in the harness track stands and fewer race days.
On Tuesday, Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Saratoga Springs, and horseperson’s association representatives called on Rivers to come to the negotiating table and try to settle the issue of Rivers’ not paying a legally required quarterly payment to support harness racing purses, which have had to shrink because the roughly $1 million per quarter payments aren’t being made.
Concerns For Saratoga Over NY Budget | Standardbred Canada standardbredcanada.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from standardbredcanada.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Governor s budget proposal threatens Saratoga harness racing, industry officials say
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1of15A view of the grandstands, seen in the background, at the complex that has the Saratoga Casino Hotel and the Saratoga Harness Track, on Monday, March 1, 2021, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)Paul Buckowski/Albany Times UnionShow MoreShow Less
2of15A view of the Saratoga Harness Track on Monday, March 1, 2021, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)Paul Buckowski/Albany Times UnionShow MoreShow Less
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4of15A view of the grandstands, seen in the background, at the complex that has the Saratoga Casino Hotel and the Saratoga Harness Track, on Monday, March 1, 2021, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)Paul Buckowski/Albany Times UnionShow MoreShow Less