Statement from Governor David A. Paterson

ALBANY, NY (12/07/2010)(readMedia)-- "Today is a sad day for the 1,026 employees of NYC OTB, for the racing industry and for the taxpayers of the State of New York. The plan that passed the Assembly was not a bailout; it was a restructuring plan that would have rid the Corporation of the bad practices that produced its weak performance in the past without any investment of taxpayer money. But because of a lack of bi-partisan support, the Senate forced the State to possibly incur more than $600 million in liability. That, combined with the failure of the Legislature to close more than $315 million in current year deficit, will drive the State's 2011-12 budget gap up to $10 billion dollars. The Senate vote passes the buck to New York State taxpayers instead of permitting NYC OTB to reemerge as a revenue-generating entity.

"Though we would like to provide support to the regional OTBs that are also struggling, they wished to share in the benefits of the restructuring plan without sharing in the sacrifices that all parties involved in the NYC OTB plan were willing to make. New York State was in a position to save 1,026 jobs today, but the Senate chose, instead, to send more New Yorkers to the unemployment lines. We can all learn from DC37, whose members were willing to make sacrifices to save their jobs, when others were not, and I'd like to thank them for demonstrating a cooperative spirit."