Voters across the US state of New York will address the question of whether to allow the expansion of gambling today.
The issue is a familiar one in the Mohawk Valley, where the Oneida Indian Nation operates its Turning Stone Resort Casino and the Vernon Downs racetrack features video lottery terminals. The proposed legislation would authorise as many as seven casinos in New York state.
No new casinos would come to the area if voters approve the law. That’s because of an agreement reached this spring between the Oneida Nation, the state and Oneida and Madison counties that enables the state and counties to share in the revenue generated by the Turning Stone slot machines.
In exchange, the Nation now has exclusive gambling rights in a 10-county area of central New York. Whether or not the gaming proposition succeeds today, that agreement will hold.
