Buffalo Bills fans are already screaming out at the team over the expensive purchase of a personal seat license, and now, a complaint has been filed against the State of New York over the usage of public taxpayer cash for the new Bills stadium.
According to the Yonkers Times, a lawsuit was brought by Westchester residents Tony Futia and Bob Schulz, as well as two other New Yorkers, against the State of New York, saying that the state and Erie County violated the NYS Constitution by spending public monies towards the stadium.
The action cites Article VII-Section 8.1 and Article VIII, Section 1 of the NYS Constitution, which “prohibits the giving or lending of State and County money “in furtherance of any…private corporation…or private undertaking…” While New York courts have rejected the argument — and a lower court dismissed the lawsuit — the United States Supreme Court has accepted the case.
The USSC called for a reply to the submission by the State of New York, while the Solicitor General for New York, Barbara Underwood, filed a motion to renounce the state’s ability to provide a response. Although the USSC has the matter on a docket, they must decide whether and when they would like to hear arguments from the case. If they do proceed, the court will ask from briefs from both sides, as well as an oral argument in front of the court.
If the USSC believes the case is timely, the justices would hear the matter before the summer recess. However, the case might not even get that far, as the USSC could decline to move further completely.
Shulz, however, told the Yonkers Times that in his 45 years of expertise working on cases like this, he’s “never felt so confident.”
“The USSC only hears cases that are unique, where important Constitutional rights and arguments have not yet been made,” Shulz added. “I feel very confident that whey are going to hear the case.”
Additionally, Futia told the outlet that most New Yorkers don’t aware that the public financing for stadiums used for private use is banned in the state, and the state funding for the new stadium was included in last year’s state budget.
Already, work has begun on the Bills’ new stadium in Orchard Park. The new facility is planned to have a capacity of up to 62,000 with an open-air plan and will be erected on a 242-acre site, which will make it the biggest project developed in Western New York. It will replace the Bills’ present home, Highmark Stadium which goes back to 1973, as the option of refurbishment was set aside owing to exorbitant expense.
