The state of Florida recently filed an appeal to Senior U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle’s November ruling allowing the Seminole Tribe of Florida to continue to offer blackjack at five of its seven its casinos. Jason Maine, general counsel to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which regulates gambling, filed the 7-page “notice of appeal” to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Hinkle ruled that Governor Rick Scott’s regulators allowed select Florida dog and horse tracks to offer card games similar to those that the Seminoles were supposed to have exclusive rights to under their state compact, in return for more than $1 billion in revenue sharing with the state. The judge declared the tribe could continue to offer blackjack until 2030. The state had requested that Hinkle order the tribe to remove the games, since a provision in the compact allowing them to offer blackjack expired in 2015.
The tribe has continued to share revenue with the state—to date nearly $20 million since the compact provision expired, as a show of good faith. The money is being held in reserve in the General Revenue fund, a state economist said.
Seminole attorney Barry Richard said, “We were hoping they weren’t going to appeal, but we’re not surprised. As I told the lawyer for the state, I don’t recall in my career an opposing party working so hard to keep my client from paying it hundreds of millions of dollars – and it still is. In a sense, the tribe has been fighting to pay the state and the state has been fighting to stop it. As far as the issue of whether the tribe still has to pay, it’s not an issue because the tribe has chosen not to make it an issue.”
The Seminoles still are interested in renewing a compact with the state. Last year the tribe and Scott came to an agreement that would have allowed the tribe to offer blackjack plus craps and roulette over seven years in return for $3 billion. Legislators failed to approve it.
A Senate panel recently approved SB 8 that includes the Seminole agreement, and also would expand blackjack to South Florida parimutuels, offer slots in Miami-Dade County, decouple racing from other gambling, allow lottery ticket sales at gas pumps and more—including legalize fantasy sports.
In fact, FanDuel has issued a “call to action” email to Florida users, asking them to contact their legislator to support fantasy sports betting. The email said, “A new bill has been introduced that would update Florida’s laws to recognize what we all know to be true—that fantasy sports are games of skill and should be kept legal for all eligible Floridians to enjoy. The fact is that current laws have not kept pace with technology. Unless legislators are willing to deny millions of Floridians the right to play America’s newest national pastime, they must act quickly to update the law by passing legislation that protects your right to play.” The email included a link to a site where users can contact their state legislators, urging them to vote for the bill.
State Senator Bill Galvano—one of the sponsors of the bill—recently acknowledged he did legal work as recently as three years ago for Turnberry Associates, owners of the iconic Fontainebleau Hotel, which is interested in adding slot machines. Galvano said he worked for the company on a “commercial transaction.” He said he has no plans to work again for Turnberry, and added his past work for the firm did not influence the bill and had nothing to do with helping Turnberry obtain a gambling license. “The reality is whatever is in that bill is going to be what I believe is the best path for the state of Florida, where I think the Senate wants to go based on the last several years. And my legal work has no impact on it,” Galvano said.
Campaign finance records show that since 2010 Turnberry Associates has donated nearly $2.3 million to top Florida politicians, including more than $800,000 to the Republican Party of Florida, $90,000 to PACs run by Galvano; and $75,000 to a PAC controlled by Senate President Joe Negron.
