UPDATE: State meets obligation to NYRA; Legislature OK's advance

[pointman]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Finalized this morning...


State lawmakers approve NYRA loan
By Matt Hegarty

The New York legislature approved a $25 million loan to the New York Racing Association as part of an emergency budget appropriation late on Tuesday, according to Morgan Hook, a spokesman for Gov. David Paterson.

Of course, it is not a shock that this got done, though a bit shocking that the legislature didn't wait until the day before the Belmont Stakes. I can't believe I am saying this, but now that Patterson is a lame duck he is actually starting to become somewhat effective as he no longer needs his corrupt Democrat former pals and is beginning to push for the right things, for one example, lowering the budget via spending cuts.

It seems to me that now would be a pretty good time for NYRA to push to merge NYCOTB into NYRA's operations as they may actually get Patterson to push to do the right thing here. If the media jumps on board and exposes the bloated patronage machine that NYCOTB is, combined with the fact that Frucher has burned his bridges in Albany, it would seem like it is possible it could get done.