The last few weeks have been confusing for the Seneca Nation, Monroe County-area lawmakers and Western New York cities dependent on revenues from the Seneca Nation Gaming Compact.

A little background: The original gaming compact agreement was hammered out in 2002 under then-Gov. George Pataki. It required the state help establish three Seneca-owned casino facilities in Western New York in exchange for 25% revenue sharing to the three host cities — Niagara Falls, Buffalo and Salamanca.  

This compact expires in December. 

Earlier this month, there was a general expectation that a deal linked to the compact that had passed in the state Senate would pass in the Assembly during its special session. 

For a variety of reasons, it did not. 

“This is where is gets really complicated,” said Managing Partner of O’Donnell Solutions Jack O’Donnell who is involved in this issue on behalf of Delaware North. “The Senate didn’t even pass a deal.  They passed what was an authorization to allow the executive to enter into a deal.”

It’s “doubly complicated” because the governor isn’t directly involved in the negotiations; her her husband works for a Seneca Nation competitor. Instead, members of her administration are leading the negotiations.

“But the deal itself was secret, so the Senate didn’t know what they were voting on. They were voting, again, not on the specifics of the deal, but to authorize the executive to enter into it,” said O’Donnell. 

There is a key difference in how the Hochul administration handled this negotiation and how it was handled during the administration of Gov. George Pataki: In 2002, the authorization that passed through the Legislature referenced a specific deal inked between the Senecas and the state of New York on a specific date. According to O’Donnell, specifics like that were never part of what passed in the state Senate this year.  

“For something this big, this is a 20-year deal that affects education, it affects the community, a sovereign nation. To do that in the dark of night… but hopefully, now, there’s plenty of time for this to get some sunlight,” O’Donnell said. 

A press release issued by the Rochester delegation and reported by Spectrum News 1 indicates the parties are closer to an acceptable deal.

"We look forward to seeing a public memorandum of understanding between the State and the Seneca Nation that the legislature can ratify in a transparent way with insight from all affected localities," they wrote in a joint statement.