It is believed that a resolution asking the New York State Legislature to change current law and permit Off-Track Betting (OTB) in Onondaga County will appear before the Onondaga County Legislature on Tuesday, May 3, 2011.  Please help New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms stop Off-Track Betting from making inroads in Onondaga County.

FACT: Pro-OTB legislators in the Onondaga County Legislature have failed to hold public hearings allowing each side to fully make its case. If gambling expansion is such a good thing for Onondaga County, then why are the merits of the OTB not being touted in public hearings, but quietly advanced behind closed-door meetings.

FACT: Pro-OTB forces have not produced any independent data or studies pointing to long-term success of OTB in helping the economy, while organizations opposed to gambling expansion have provided multiple studies and data that has been ignored by certain members of the Onondaga County Legislature.

FACT: Only one year ago, OTB-supportive legislators withdrew their motion at the last moment in the face of impending loss, and have lost three votes in a row since – yet persist in trying to ram OTB-approval down the throats of unsuspecting county residents.

FACT: OTB is a dying industry in New York. Two OTB's have filed for bankruptcy in the last 6 months (NYC and Suffolk County). When OTB’s fail they look to government (i.e. the taxpayers) to bail them out.  New York City is currently under court order to pay the benefits for employees of the now-bankrupt NYC OTB. Do we really want to straddle Onondaga County with the same possible liabilities?

FACT: OTB promises new jobs if approved in Onondaga County, but New York Racing Association interests will soon be outsourcing telephone gambling jobs to Oregon. Yonkers Raceway and Saratoga Harness have already moved their telephone betting operations out of the state.

FACT: The most recent financial report from Onondaga County Comptroller Robert Antonacci shows the county is actually running a surplus and does not need “revenue” from the costly OTB. It's OTB that needs Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse.

FACT: If OTB is not meant to increase gambling, then why does Capital OTB want to put two “Betmobiles” on the road in Syracuse? If OTB is approved, you could soon find gambling vendors trolling for bets alongside ice cream vendors and the bookmobile.

Take Action: Visit New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms Legislative Action Center to tell Onondaga County Legislators no to OTB!

Remember, gambling expansion is always a bad bet.