Copyright 2003 - Tuesday, December 2, 2003

Gambling lobbying in Albany to surpass $3 million

Oneidas spent $244,000 on lobbying, campaigns

By YANCEY ROY

O-D Albany bureau

ALBANY - Gambling promoters poured millions of dollars into lobbying and campaign contributions in a behind-the-scenes effort to expand gambling at racetracks, casinos and betting parlors in New York, state records show.

The spending will top $3 million by year's end, and produced some noteworthy payoffs. Gambling interests got legislators to:

> Boost video slot machine hours to 16 a day at eight horse racing tracks, scheduled to begin next year.

> Give racetracks a greater share of slot-machine profits.

> Make Quick Draw even quicker. The television-monitor game found in bars and convenience stores now picks winning numbers every four minutes instead of five.

And Gov. George Pataki made a deal with the St. Regis Mohawks and a big-time casino developer to build a casino in the Catskill Mountains, although the agreement was overturned by the tribe.

The Oneida Indian Nation spent $169,000 on lobbying. In 2002, it contributed about $25,000 to political campaigns at the state and local level and roughly $50,000 to national campaigns.

Oneida Nation spokesman Mark Emery noted that not all the Nation's political contributions related directly to gambling.

"Gaming is a part of it," he said. "But certainly not the lion's share."

Lobbying by all groups adds up to a nice jackpot, one watchdog said.

"The $3 million is not a huge amount compared to what other special interests spend. But it is funding a successful campaign," said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group, which monitors lobbying and campaign contributions.

How so?

Consider two betting-machine companies that recently landed contracts to supply racetracks with video slot machines or video lottery terminals (VLTs).

E International Game Technology, based in Nevada, this year hired former state Lottery Division official Jeff Perlee to be its lobbyist at a rate of $10,400 per month plus expenses. In 2002, IGT spent $170,000 on lobbying.

IGT also donated $25,000 to the state Republican committee this year and $5,000 in 2002. Company officials didn't return a call immediately to comment.

E Spielo Gaming International, a Canadian company , spent $128,231 on lobbying over the last two years. Spielo gave $4,600 over the last two years to various Republican candidates and committees. (The other two companies that won VLT contracts, Bally and Sierra Design have no apparent record of lobbying.)

Gtech Corp., which runs Quick Draw, spent $316,633 over the last two years. Also, it gave $5,000 this year to the state Republican Committee.

The Rhode Island-based company, which has a 10-year contract to run games for the state, has earned about $43 million annually on lottery games, officials have said. It gets 1.5 percent of every Quick Draw sale. The new, quicker Quick Draw should generate more money for Gtech.

Racetracks also plunked down big money on lobbyists while trying to convince lawmakers to sweeten their pot.

Yonkers Raceway spent $110,000 over the last two years. Monticello Raceway spent $90,000. Mid-State Raceway spent $50,000. Finger Lakes Racetrack spent $98,000 while the Finger Lakes Horsemen's Association, which represents owners and trainers, spent another $90,000.

Off-track betting parlors - some campaigned, unsuccessfully, to get VLTs - combined to spend nearly $500,000 on lobbying over the last two years.

But casino interests topped racetracks and lottery promoters.

Park Place Entertainment spent $604,207 during the last two years. It has worked with the St. Regis Mohawks to build one of the three scheduled Catskills casinos. Hudson Valley Resorts, a competitor, spent $346,401.

American Indian tribes have been spending in the six figures as well, led by the Seneca Nation at $221,383. The Senecas recently opened a casino in Niagara Falls.

Gambling has become one of the significant industries to lobby the Capitol. Gambling companies have contracts to pay lobbyists at least $2.8 million in 2003, according to records filed with the state Lobbying Commission. Once lobbying expenses and campaign contributions are combined, the total will easily exceed $3 million.

The annual total has doubled since 2000. In 2001, the governor and legislators agreed to a massive gambling expansion, including six new Indian-run casinos, more lottery games and video slots.

"There are certain industries that dominate the agenda at the Capitol. Gambling is one of those," said Rachel Leon of Common Cause, which monitors lobbying. "Part of it is because our leaders are relying on (gambling) to turn around the economy. Part of it is because of their lobbying."

Legislators who backed the new perks for VLTs and racetracks said the Legislature acted to make struggling racetracks viable, not because of lobbying.

Racetracks must pour lots of money into renovations to install the video slot machines, noted Assemblywoman RoAnn Destito, D-Rome. Before the Legislature acted, VLTs were authorized only for an experimental, five-year basis. Now, it's 10 years.

Also, tracks now get to keep 20 percent of the slot-machine revenue - originally it was 12.5 percent.

The original terms weren't incentive enough for tracks to install the machines, said Destito, whose home county, Oneida County, includes the Vernon Downs harness track.

"You have to have a commitment. That's just good business sense," Destito said. "There was a commitment to bring large sums of money."

Top 10 gambling lobbyists Here some of the biggest-spending gambling promoters at the state Capitol for 2002 and 2003, combined (amounts represent totals spent on lobbying, rounded to nearest thousand): E Park Place Entertainment (casinos): $604,000 E Hudson Valley Resorts (casinos): $346,000 E GTech (lottery games): $317,000 E New York Racing Association (horse racing): $295,000 E International Game Technology (lottery, video slots): $294,000 E Casino, NY (casinos): $222,000 E Seneca Nation of Indians (casinos): $214,000 E St. Regis Mohawk Tribe (casinos): $180,000 E Oneida Indian Nation (casinos): $169,000 E Spielo Gaming International (lottery, video slots): $128,000 E Sportsystems/Delaware North (racing): $121,000 E Seneca Niagara Falls Gaming Corp (casinos): $120,000