Slot Machine Expansion Proposed

Governor David Patterson has an executive budget that includes a $698 million cut in education funding. He is running the state at a deficit of $12 billion over the next two years, and knows that he has to cur corners somewhere, and chose education. This of course has made a lot of the state very upset and angry, and they say that he is cutting the wrong places. However, without another revenue source they are at a loss to make up the funds.

But here is where Senator Jeffrey Klein comes in. Klein is a state Senator and he says that if they expand the number of slot machines around the state then they could make up the difference in educational financing. This doesn’t mean that they will make up for all of it, but he says that it would at least bring in some. His plan is to expand the type of video slot machines that are currently offered at racetracks around the state, and some are saying that it is a pretty good idea.

The slot machine bill would dedicate $145 million to education by adding in different games. The new games could bring in as much as $276 million, but a large portion of that will actually go to the state lottery system, machine maintenance, the racing industry and the tracks that host the actual slot machines.

Many like the idea of the slot machine expansion, but they want to see less of the money going to other sources. They say that since the slot machines are being brought in for education, education should get the majority of the revenue from them. They understand upkeep, but the rest is profits that are going out – and that the lottery and tracks should want to help out the state’s children.

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