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\tBy MICHAEL GORMLEY
\n\tTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS
\n\tALBANY, N.Y. \u2014 Voters are holding the cards as to whether New York will authorize seven Las Vegas-style casinos following months of debate over the benefits of expanded gambling and the rewording of Tuesday\u2019s ballot question.<\/p>\n
\tOne casino would be in the Southern Tier near Binghamton, two in the Catskills and Mid-Hudson Valley region, and another in the Saratoga Springs-Albany area. A New York City casino would be built in seven years, although some casino operators say the law could allow for a New York City casino sooner.<\/p>\n
\tGov. Andrew Cuomo didn\u2019t allow specific sites to be chosen, saying that will be up to the casino developers. His budget office says the state will take in $430 million in new casino revenue, with $238 million for education in a repeat of the strategy that approved lottery games. The rest would go to communities near casinos to compensate for public safety and social costs and for tax reduction.<\/p>\n
\tBoosters held news conferences statewide touting bipartisan support by local government officials.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWhen you\u2019re at 18 percent unemployment, you\u2019ve lost your industry, the housing market has really taken a hit around here, the potential of 1,500 jobs \u2014 it can be a game changer,\u201d Town of Wawarsing Supervisor Scott Carlsen told The Associated Press in an interview.<\/p>\n
\tThe latest Siena College-New York Times poll appears to show the efforts have paid off. After New Yorkers have spent years split over the notion of expanding casino gambling, the poll released a week ago found 60 percent of New York City voters \u2014 who are expected to dominate Tuesday\u2019s turnout \u2014 support the question. However, in that poll they were still split over whether voters wanted a casino in New York City, which would be authorized in Tuesday\u2019s referendum.<\/p>\n
\tCritics including good-government groups, the state Conservative Party and the state\u2019s Catholic bishops argue that Cuomo\u2019s estimates of benefits are inflated and that the social cost to families and communities will be profound. They also criticized what they called the referendum\u2019s unusually rosy, one-side view of casinos.<\/p>\n
\tOpponents have little money to combat the multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns of a powerful mix of business, gambling and union interests. And Cuomo had sidelined much of the expected opposition.<\/p>\n
\tHe assured Native American tribes that they wouldn\u2019t face competition to their five casinos now operating under federal law. Cuomo also assured no competition to horse racing centers with video slot machines and gave them a chance to pursue casinos. The Board of Elections also moved the casino referendum to the advantageous top ballot position.<\/p>\n
\tIf voters reject casino gambling, the law will automatically approve more video slot machine centers.<\/p>\n
\tSupporters say casinos will recapture more than $1 billion a year now spent at casinos out of state.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cProposal No. 1 would start to bring that money back to New York and create over 10,000 good-paying new jobs in New York state,\u201d states one of the statewide TV ads paid for by the NY Jobs Now Committee and featuring a hard-hatted everyman.<\/p>\n
\tThe key may be in the referendum\u2019s wording.<\/p>\n
\tThe Cuomo administration rewrote the referendum from the straightforward form submitted by the attorney general\u2019s office. The Board of Elections added disputed promises that casinos would bring more school aid, jobs and tax breaks, without mentioning the opponents\u2019 concerns about crime, addiction or the declining casino market that has forced some states to subsidize casinos.<\/p>\n
\tAn October Siena College poll tested the impact of the rewording. Voters statewide were split on casino gambling in general. But when shown the promises in the rewording, approval reached 55 percent for the first time.<\/p>\n
\tState Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long called the casino effort \u201cthe biggest hoax ever perpetrated on the taxpayers of the state of New York,\u201d while The New York Times called the rewording \u201cadvocacy, pure and simple.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe critical wording was unsuccessfully challenged in court by Brooklyn lawyer Eric Snyder. The state Board of Elections won on a technicality that Snyder didn\u2019t file his lawsuit by the Aug. 19 deadline, although the state didn\u2019t post the rosy wording until Aug. 21. Powerful Republican Sen. John DeFrancisco is pushing a bill to prohibit rewording.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI hope the voters send the Board of Elections the message that it\u2019s wrong to stack the deck,\u201d Snyder said.<\/p>\n