State rep who once opposed gaming leads the charge for up to seven casinos

A proposal to build five to seven mega-casinos on oceanfront property in South Florida could signal an explosion of gaming in the state, which has struggled in recent years to negotiate a satisfactory compact with the Seminole Indians and also create more favorable conditions for parimutuels.  

Las Vegas casino titan Sheldon Adelson, backed by Fort Lauderdale Republican Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, have floated a plan for up to seven Las Vegas-style gaming resorts on South Florida's beaches. Ironically, Bogdanoff campaigned on an anti-gaming platform, and in 2006 supported a burdensome 50 percent tax rate on slots. She was also an outspoken opponent of Governor Charlie Crist's compacts with the Seminole tribe, both of which have gone down to defeat.

But now, with gaming on the rise in the state, Bogdanoff says it's time for full-scale state-regulated casinos, which would prevent a Seminole monopoly. Bogdanoff said the state must "create competition to an industry that is not going away." She is joined in her support for the idea by two other prominent conservatives. Reps. Alan Hays and Carlos Lopez-Cantera also say they are open to bringing full casinos to Florida.

Adelson wants to be the first to break ground. The Las Vegas Sands CEO told the Miami Herald he is ready to invest in a sprawling $3 billion casino hotel and entertainment complex, probably in Miami or Fort Lauderdale, which are beachfront communities with easy access to airports. Adelson said he'd also consider sites in Tampa Bay and Orlando.

"We're not interested in putting up slot parlors or a gambling den," Adelson told the Herald. "We want destinations and integrated resorts."

Just one resort could bring 7,000 jobs to the region and mean more money for the state than the Seminoles promised in the two compacts, Adelson says.

Under the plan, voters would first have to approve the casinos in community referendums. Applicants could range from big Vegas operators to parimutuels.

Though Crist is still lobbying for the Seminole deal, he said he finds the Bogdanoff plan "intriguing." But House Speaker Larry Cretul says destination casinos may not be in the cards for Florida at the moment.

While Adelson and Bogdanoff have "amped up" the debate, "and there might be some who think that there's an opening," Cretul said, "I'm not so sure the opening is there.''

Adelson, for his part, has engaged a Tallahassee lobbyist to stump for the plan and also contributed $19,000 to Crist's Senate campaign.

A hearing in the House is set for February.

Meanwhile, Florida's Senate panel last week passed two gaming bills that will permit VLTs at 18 parimutuels in South Florida, and add roulette and craps to other Class III games at the Seminole tribe's seven casinos. Crist has "tentatively" endorsed the plan, which could bring in up to $1 billion a year in revenue for the state, according to the News-Press of Fort Myers.

A House version of the bill would bar blackjack at the Seminole casinos. It has not yet been voted on.

By Staff

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