Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner (D,I -Round Lake) announced the passage of legislation she co-authored with state Senator Kathy Marchione (R-Halfmoon) to help the Saratoga Casino and Hotel make capital improvements (A.5983-A/S.4068-A).

“By increasing the opportunity for local gaming facilities to reinvest earnings, upgrade facilities and expand, we’re helping them to remain at the forefront of a competitive gaming marketplace statewide,” Woerner said. “This bill will allow Saratoga’s racino to create new construction jobs in our area, enhance the experience of patrons and ultimately attract more visitors.”

Under current law, smaller gaming facilities with fewer than 1,100 gaming machines are able to use 4 percent of their net wins to make capital improvements, while medium-sized facilities cannot. Woerner’s legislation will increase the threshold for small and medium gaming facilities to 1,900 terminals to help level the playing field – which is especially important for the Saratoga Casino Hotel, a business that now competes with the Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady, Woerner noted.