Democratic Candidate Joanne Yepsen: Seal The Aqueduct Deal Now
By Mike Connery on 08/09/2010 @ 02:56 PM
Over the past few years, with incumbent Roy McDonald representing the 43rd Senatorial District, the bidding process for the Aqueduct Race Track has been plagued by nightmarish delays and resulted in lost revenue for the state.
Now, Joanne Yepsen is taking action – and urging the state to act quickly on New York State Lottery Division’s recommendation to award the Aqueduct Race Track video lottery terminal contract to Genting Inc.
“New York state is losing $1 million a day in revenue until the VLTs are up and running at Aqueduct, forcing taxpayers to pick up the difference in funding state programs. Tragically, this nine-year delay has cost $2.5 billion in revenue to New York state, all at a time when our deficit and unemployment rate are of great concern,” Yepsen said.
Last Friday, Yepsen met with Sen. Eric Adams, chair of the Senate Racing Committee, to talk about the Aqueduct Race Track bidding, argue for the necessity of capital investment in the Saratoga Race Course, and highlight the local jobs and economic activity tied to such a project. Yepsen is fighting for small businesses in the area that say without the tourism associated with the track, their bottom lines would take a 20% hit and force them to close.
“We had a very productive meeting. Senator Adams understands I’m speaking on behalf of thousands of industry workers, small businesses and families who depend on the significant income they receive from our racing season and hopes to act as early as next week,” Yepsen said.
Yepsen has been leading on this issue for some time and often stressed the importance of this revenue stream, “not just to Saratoga but to our entire state.”
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