Gambling bills inch ahead, but agreement is elusive – Sun Sentinel (blog)

A new gambling deal is creeping forward in the Florida House, but serious doubts remain that any deal can get done before the legislative session ends in May.

A wide gap exists between the House bill and a proposed deal in the Senate. Adding to the difficulty, the Seminole Tribe of Florida opposes both bills.

The House gambling bill, which passed the House Ways and Means Committee on a largely party-line vote of 11-7 on Tuesday, essentially keeps the current regime in place, with a few important updates.

The original deal with the Seminoles, signed under Gov. Charlie Crist in 2010, covered 20 years but gave the tribe the exclusive right to blackjack for the first five years.

But after 2015, the tribe kept right on dealing. Thats because it maintained that so-called designated player games, blackjack-like card games that the state allowed to take place at parimutuels, were too similar to blackjack and therefore violated the 2010 agreement. Such a violation allowed the tribe to have blackjack through 2030, and after back and forth lawsuits between the tribe and the state, the courts agreed with the tribe.

Under the House gambling bill, these designated player games would end. The bill also would end long-dormant gambling licenses and would up the amount of money the Seminoles owe to the state each year.

According to tribal spokesman Gary Bitner, the Seminoles are on track to pay $306 million to the state this fiscal year.

But the House bills sponsor, state Rep. Mike La Rosa, R-St. Cloud, said his bill would require the Seminoles to pay $325 million the first year of the deal and more in subsequent years, for a grand total of $3 billion in the first seven years.

In return, the Seminoles would get nothing more than they already have.

A similar payment plan, created under a proposed gambling deal Gov. Rick Scott hatched with the tribe last year, would have given the Seminoles the exclusive right to craps and roulette, but the Legislature didnt approve the deal. This years Senate bill keeps those terms.

The House bill also would not allow parimutuels to stop horse or dog racing but continue operating casinos, and would not allow counties to bring in slot machines upon voter approval, two things the Senate bill also allows.

This seems like the one area where its OK to restrict business, Ways and Means vice chairman Joseph Abruzzo, D-Wellington, said of the House bill. I dont believe in all cases that that is fair and right.

Abruzzo called for a special session specifically on gambling issues, or else a constitutional amendment.

Getting a compact signed with the Seminole Tribe is our first goal, La Rosa said. Unfortunately, the actions of others have undercut the deal and cut the revenues we receive.

La Rosa said the state now receives about $250 million a year, considerably less than the $306 million the tribe says it will pay this year.

According to Bitner, the tribe has continued to make the same payments to the state, despite the court decisions in its favor.

While the Seminoles would appear to pay more and get nothing in return under the House deal, the tribe also opposes the Senate deal because of the expansion of slot machines. Voters in eight counties, including Palm Beach, have already approved slot machines in their counties. And in some cases, parimutuels that would get slots under the Senate deal would be in direct competition with Seminole-owned casinos.

The House bill has one more hearing before going to the floor for a vote. The Senate bill has already cleared committees. But its only after the bills reach the full House and Senate, when the two chambers have to iron out a bill that the tribe will agree to, that the game truly begins.

dsweeney@SunSentinel.com, 954-356-4605 or Twitter @Daniel_Sweeney

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Gambling bills inch ahead, but agreement is elusive - Sun Sentinel (blog)