hempstead town clerk banned from betting horses at

nassau otb because she is not christisn

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Track Code	Track Name	Entry	Scratch	1st Post ET	1st Post Local	Time Zone	Stakes Race(s)	Stakes Grade	T.V. Indicator
EMD	EMERALD DOWNS	72	24	5:00 PM	2:00 PM	PDT
EQ	EQUIBASE	48	0	9:05 PM	9:05 PM	EDT
GG	GOLDEN GATE FIELDS	72	24	3:45 PM	12:45 PM	PDT
GP	GULFSTREAM PARK	72	0	12:55 PM	12:55 PM	EDT
LRL	LAUREL PARK	72	0	1:10 PM	1:10 PM	EDT
SA	SANTA ANITA PARK	72	24	4:00 PM	1:00 PM	PDT
SUN	SUNLAND PARK	168	24	3:30 PM	1:30 PM	MDT	Sunland Park H.
							Copper Top Futurity
WO	WOODBINE	72	48	1:00 PM	1:00 PM	EDT	Star Shoot S.

By Jackie Nash

Assemblyman Ed Ra recently introduced three bills that would help state off-track betting corporations, including racetracks, keep more of the money that is spent on their premises and create more business for them. Ra’s legislation reintroduces three bills offered by Assemblyman Bob Barra (R-Lynbrook) in the 2009-10 legislative session.

“All of New York state’s regional off-track betting corporations are currently in financial distress, despite the fact that they all have acted to reduce inefficiencies and streamline operations,” Ra said. “This result is due in large part to the increased burden of statutory distribution payouts that have been imposed upon them. These increased payments have resulted in not only endangering the economic viability of the regional corporations, but also in decreased payments to their stakeholders — municipal governments.” 

Ra added that due to the new revenue stream created by the installation of video lottery terminals at racetracks around the state, there is now an opportunity to revitalize and restructure racing in New York — which his legislation aims to do.

One of Ra’s bills, A06020, would allow parimutuel, or off-track, betting to take place on Palm Sunday. Currently, state law does not permit off-track betting — which allows bets of the same type to be placed together in a pool — on Palm Sunday, Easter or Christmas. Ra said that the bill would not mandate that tracks or OTB corporations allow betting on Palm Sunday, but would give them the option of operating that day. 

The bill would not, however, extend to Christmas or Easter, he said, because he believes those days are major holidays, and require the prohibition of betting. More people go out of state on Palm Sunday than on Christmas or Easter to place bets, he added. “There are so many places where people can bet now, online and elsewhere,” Ra said.

Refaqat Malik, an Elmont resident and owner of the 99 Cent Express, at 1081 Hempstead Turnpike in Franklin Square, said he supports Ra’s legislation, since his business is affected by the existing law each year. The 99 Cent Express, which Malik has owned for nine years, is just west of a Nassau OTB Corporation office, at 1063 Hempstead Turnpike. “And it’s not only us,” he said. “A lot of other businesses here in Franklin Square have been affected too.” 

Malik said his store sees most of its business on Saturdays and Sundays, and a large part of the clientele comes from the OTB Corporation. “So if it’s not open, then what’s the point of opening the store?” he said. “We are living in an independent society, we are not living in an Islamic or Christian — or any religion — state … if you go by the Constitution, I don’t know how this could be right.”

Ra’s second bill, A06022, would allow state racetracks and OTB corporations to keep unclaimed winnings and refunds and use them for their own purposes, including track and corporation improvement. Currently, all unclaimed winnings and refunds are collected by the state, and go into its general revenue fund. 

“This is solely about keeping revenue at the tracks that goes elsewhere … and allowing them to reinvest in the track, and that can mean jobs, and improvements of the track,” Ra said. “I know that a lot of tracks need the revenue.”

He said he has not been able to obtain data on the total amount of unclaimed winnings and refunds collected by the state, but in New York City alone, he said, the state collected nearly $1 million in 2010. He added that the Suffolk Regional OTB Corporation filed for bankruptcy this month, and he doesn’t want to see Nassau County’s OTB Corporation follow the same route.

Ra’s third bill, A0602, would allow OTB corporations to keep “dark-day” commission payments they would otherwise make to licensed regional harness tracks. Currently, on “dark days” — days when there is no racing in an off-track state within 60 miles of an OTB corporation — simulcast licensees can broadcast out-of-state thoroughbred races, but they must make payments to their respective harness tracks.

From 1997 to 2003, OTB corporations made dark-day payments to regional harness tracks, but in 2004 the New York City OTB stopped making those payments on the grounds that the law required the tracks, not OTBs, to make such payments to one another. A0602 would ensure that OTB corporations are able to keep all the revenue they receive from broadcasting out-of-state races.

Jackson Leeds, a Baldwin resident who has been a cashier at the Nassau OTB Corporation in Franklin Square for six years, said the Franklin Square OTB is one of the most profitable branch locations in the county. Leeds, who has supported Ra’s legislation ever since Barra introduced it, said it is a “no-brainer,” especially given the county’s current economic difficulties. 

“This is the simplest of simple questions, in my mind,” Leeds said. “You’re able to purchase a Powerball ticket 365 days a year, and therefore you should be able to bet on horses 365 days a year.”

Leeds said that Ra’s legislation would help bolster Franklin Square’s OTB Corporation as well as others, including Belmont Park in Elmont. 

The New York Racing Association, which operates Belmont Park, declined to comment on the legislation. Ra said he would be speaking with NYRA about the legislation. “I would be [open] to any tweaks that they think would benefit them,” he said. “Any additional dollars we can get for Belmont is an important thing because those are dollars that will hopefully help jobs that are there, and hopefully help jobs grow.”

On March 2, Sen. Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn) introduced independent legislation to allow off-track betting to take place on Palm Sunday. Ra said he is currently working on obtaining co-sponsorship in the Assembly for his legislation, and would be willing to work with any legislators on getting the bills passed. Although Barra’s legislation was heavily co-sponsored in the 2009-10 session, it was held for consideration in the Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee, and didn’t pass out of the Assembly before the session ended. 

Ra’s bills have been referred to the Racing and Wagering Committee, and are currently under consideration by the committee’s chairman, Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, of Mt. Vernon.

Comments about this story? JNash@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 214.