No Horse Racing Agreement, Says Joe Bruno [updated]

Horse racing in New York will "continue unabated tomorrow" even though legislators have not reached the end of a negotiation period that has dragged on for months. N.Y.R.A.'s current contract will expire tomorrow without a replacement, according to a statement by Joe Bruno.

As he has in the past, Bruno blamed Eliot Spitzer and Sheldon Silver.

"Negotiations have been very constructive over the last several weeks. However, we have been unable to get the Governor's staff to meet with us since Friday in an effort to resolve remaining differences. For months I have called for open public leaders meetings to reach an agreement by the end of the year. The Governor and Speaker have rejected those calls. Today, I am renewing that call and asking Governor Spitzer and Speaker Silver to conduct a public meeting on January 2nd to finalize an agreement. I am confident that our differences can be resolved."

What does this say for the chances of an on-time budget next year?

UPDATE: The interim agreement will last until January 23, according to Eliot Spitzer's statement, which also notes, "The Governor's Office has been in daily contact with representatives of the State Senate, the Assembly and NYRA".

Here's Buno's whole email:



STATEMENT BY SENATE MAJORITY LEADER JOSEPH L. BRUNO It is apparent that no agreement will be reached today on the future of the racing franchise in New York. However, while the year is ending at midnight, racing in New York will continue unabated tomorrow. It was my hope that we would announce an agreement today between the Governor and Legislature on legislation to establish a long term solution for racing. However, those efforts were hindered by NYRA's intransigence on remaining issues that would assure accountability and oversight to prevent the mistakes of the past from occurring in the future. As I have said all along, it is clear that the old racing model does not work and that significant changes are needed to make racing even better for the horsemen, for communities that host the tracks, for employees of the racing industry and for the fans. That is our goal and it is one we will achieve. Negotiations have been very constructive over the last several weeks. However, we have been unable to get the Governor's staff to meet with us since Friday in an effort to resolve remaining differences. For months I have called for open public leaders meetings to reach an agreement by the end of the year. The Governor and Speaker have rejected those calls. Today, I am renewing that call and asking Governor Spitzer and Speaker Silver to conduct a public meeting on January 2nd to finalize an agreement. I am confident that our differences can be resolved. Any new racing model must include a reconstituted NYRA board that is more representative of the industry, and includes members with racing expertise as well as others who can assure the integrity of racing in New York State. And while NYRA will continue to run racing, any franchise agreement must include reviews every three years to provide greater accountability, transparency and oversight. We must also put in place guarantees for the horsemen that purses will be sufficient to ensure the best quality racing. And we must include community input by host communities on development and other issues going forward. In any long term commitment, we must continue to seek the involvement and input of people with the appropriate skills and expertise to help us as we pursue development issues and other gaming issues. This new model is one that can provide a sounder financial deal for taxpayers. The law we adopted that established the oversight board has assured the continuity of racing in this state. However, we must redouble our efforts to resolve whatever outstanding issues remain as soon as possible to ensure that long into the future, racing fans will be able to experience the greatest horse racing in the world right here in New York State.

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