Surrounded by other Seneca Nation officials Wednesday, President Rickey Armstrong Sr. announces an agreement in principle with New York State on a new casino gaming compact. File Photo by M.J. Stafford

Among the work undone before the end of the state legislative session was approval of a new gaming compact between New York state and the Seneca Nation of Indians.

The compact isn’t going to be approved during this week’s special session, either, and the Seneca Nation isn’t happy about it.

Nation President Rickey Armstrong Sr. issued a scathing news release late Friday night when Rochester-area members of the state Assembly said they opposed the Seneca Nation’s plan to open a new casino near Rochester on land that would fall within the nation’s exclusivity zone. Rochester-area lawmakers are upset they weren’t told about the new casino, which they say would compete with a casino with union employees in the Rochester area. Opposition from the Rochester-area lawmakers led Carl Heastie, D-Bronx and Assembly speaker, to back away from bringing the compact approval to the Assembly floor during this week’s session.

“Upon hearing that Rochester leaders were frustrated at their lack of understanding of the deal, apparently having been kept in the dark by their executive, the nation met with local Rochester leaders to address their concerns. The nation promised to work together to site any future casino in a location that worked for local communities. And yet, the nation’s attempts to rectify that lack of understanding have fallen short, and the Nation is once again reminded that native nations in the state of New York are secondary to corporate interests. By failing to advance this bill, the Assembly is telling the Seneca Nation we don’t even deserve the opportunity to start those conversations,” Armstrong said in a news release late Friday.

State Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, laid blame on the governor’s negotiating team for not bringing Rochester-area lawmakers into the discussions earlier. The senator’s statement echoed concerns raised by Armstrong, who similarly blamed the team negotiating on behalf of Hochul.

“It’s obvious that the governor’s so-called recusal has led to her and her team not negotiating in good faith with the Seneca Nation,” Borrello said. “According to President Armstrong, there was never a non-disclosure agreement. So the governor could have and should have brought legislators into the discussion to ensure that this deal didn’t fall apart at the 11th hour.”

An agreement on a compact is only the first step in the process. Terms would need to be approved by Seneca Nation citizens in a referendum vote and be approved by the federal Department of the Interior. The state Legislature has to approve legislation authorizing Hochul to enter a new agreement — a process that would require a special session.

Opponents of a possible Seneca Nation-owned, Rochester-area casino rallied in downtown Rochester on Friday. rallied in downtown Rochester on Friday. In a statement to Rochester-area media, Henry Wojtaszek, Western Regional Off-Track Betting CEO and president, warned the gambling market is too saturated already and would only be more saturated if another casino in the Rochester area is opened. While Armstrong argues the Seneca Nation is at a competitive disadvantage due to other state gaming policies, Wojtaszek warned the 400 jobs at the Batavia Downs Casino could be in jeopardy if another casino opened. There are 10 gaming facilities within 100 miles of Rochester, including three video lottery terminals that paid $140 million in combined taxes to New York state last year.

“Of course they didn’t express any concerns when the governor authorized that casino in the first place even though that hurt the Senecas,” Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, R-Jamestown, said of the Rochester-area lawmakers. “Joe Giglio and I, Angelo Morinello up in Niagara Falls, Assemblymember Norris, all of us in the Seneca region strongly support the new agreement. We also support the agreement even though it might result in some competition to the company that employs the governor’s husband at a high salary. We recognize that’s an issue. Of course typically competition has been the hallmark of a free competitive economy and has generally proven to be a means by which we get higher quality services at a lower price. I’m not particularly offended by the concept this may result in competition.”

Hochul has said she will defer to the state Gaming Commission because her husband, former U.S. Attorney William Hochul, works for Delaware North, which owns two racinos that compete with the Seneca Nation’s casinos. But only Hochul can actually sign off on a contract between the state and Seneca Nation. Armstrong pointed to opposition by Finger Lakes Gaming, which is owned by Delaware North, as signs Hochul and her negotiating team weren’t fully behind the new compact.

“The nation is also disappointed that the executive has been content to let its own deal die on the vine. Had this been a priority for them, we would have seen statements of support for the bill, communications that the nation-state compact is a priority, or applying the full weight of the executive branch,” Armstrong said. “The executive has been silent. The executive chamber’s choice not to promote its own deal with the Seneca Nation speaks volumes — Governor Hochul may have recused herself from negotiations, but apparently could not recuse her own staff from the expectation that they prioritize corporate interests, Delaware North first and foremost, over those of a sovereign native nation. New York has spent the last several years expanding gaming, whether through new commercial casinos or opening up mobile sports betting to a billion dollars in wagers each year. The state has time and time again lowered the tax rate on the Seneca Nation’s competitors, placing the nation at a competitive disadvantage. Just this session the legislature has approved millions in tax relief to casinos. All this has come at the expense of Indian gaming and the Seneca’s gaming enterprises. Yet, when the time comes to consider a fair deal for the Seneca Nation, the state turns its back and finds any argument to protect well-connected, non-Indian gaming interests. The Seneca Nation once again implores the Assembly to do what is right — to ratify a hard-fought agreement that recognizes the right of the Seneca Nation to participate in gaming within its Aboriginal lands — lands seized from the Nation and lands that it was forced from by New York itself. Failure to do so will cost the Seneca Nation, Western New York, and ultimately, New York state.”

Borrello has previously introduced legislation (S.7502/A.7728) that would ask Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to review whether or not proper procedures were followed by the governor or her designee and any other parties that entered into a recusal agreement if the recusal was warranted, direct lobbying by interested parties and continued compliance with recusal agreements, whether the agreement to share revenue is equal to exclusivity value as required by federal law, and any other factors the comptroller finds relevant. Borrello reiterated Thursday his support for a review by DiNapoli while Goodell also agreed that an outside review makes sense.

“It’s painfully obvious that the governor has lost all credibility and that’s why the state comptroller should review the compact, to make sure all stakeholders are fairly represented,” Borrello said. “That is what my legislation calls for.”