Public Employee Press

Cuomo kills OTB retirees health benefits

Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoed two bills Dec. 17 that would have created 1,000 jobs and restored health-care benefits to 880 retirees who suddenly lost their health insurance when New York City Off-Track Betting closed in December 2010.

"I am deeply disappointed and dismayed by Cuomo's actions," said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts.

The NYC OTB employees in Local 2021 generated hundreds of millions of dollars in much-needed revenue for the city and state before the betting parlors were shuttered.

Union officials said the reasons the governor gave for vetoing the legislation that the state Senate and Assembly had passed overwhelmingly are weak and contradictory.

Cuomo vetoed the job-creating bill A7301B/S5054B, which would have let Catskill OTB expand into New York City and hire the laid-off members of Local 2021. He claimed the "ad hoc gambling expansion" was "piecemeal," "irrational," and "not an appropriate way to address the issue."

The other vetoed bill, A. 9869/S. 6868, would have restored the retirees' health benefits. Cuomo said they lost their health insurance because of bankruptcy, but union officials said his conclusion is erroneous.

"The governor knows full well that his secretary, Larry Schwartz, then the appointed chair of the OTB board, oversaw the demise of NYC OTB," said DC 37 Political Director Wanda Williams. "Schwartz made a unilateral decision to transfer money out of OTB's operating funds, and that crippled OTB."

Williams said the governor killed the retirees' bill despite its $7 million appropriation, although last year he had vetoed a similar bill for not providing funding.

When 880 OTB retirees lost their health insurance benefits - some too old to work, others too young for Medicare, and many whose pensions were shorted when OTB closed - Local 2021 and DC 37 leaders went to court and lobbied Albany to reinstate their benefits.

"I gave 33 years of productive service, played by the rules and expected the government to keep its part of the social contract," wrote Nicholas Zaharakos, 63. "Now we are relying on Lady Luck to keep us healthy," he said. "Minor health concerns can easily become major issues."

"OTB retirees hoped that this time Gov. Cuomo would sign the bill to restore the health insurance benefits they worked all their lives for. Regrettably, he failed them," said Williams. "These retirees and their spouses have suffered a devastating loss because a benefit they had counted on is gone."

"These vetoes are regrettable and unfortunate and reflect a missed opportunity for the governor to do something he insists he wants to do - create jobs and generate revenue in a state badly in need of both," Roberts said.