Conspicuously absent in the Florida Senate’s recently released proposed budget for the coming fiscal year was $350 million from the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The tribe has made the annual payments—totaling $1.8 billion—as part of a 2010 gambling compact that gave it exclusive rights to offer banked card games like blackjack. That provision expired five years ago but the tribe has continued making the payments under a deal with former Governor Rick Scott—even though a federal judge ruled in 2016 that so-called designated player games offered at some parimutuel facilities breached the exclusivity deal.
The deal will expire at the end of May, making further payments questionable. As a result, Florida Senate President Bill Galvano, who helped negotiate the 2010 compact, did not include the money in the proposed upcoming budget.
Galvano said state Senator Wilton Simpson, who will succeed Galvano as president after the November 2020 elections, recently met with an official of the Seminole Tribe, which operates six gaming venues in Florida.
“They’ve gone back to regroup, but there’s not a formal exchange of offers at this point,” Galvano said. He noted “it’s getting very close” to being too late for the state and the tribe to reach an agreement.
However, he said a deal still could be worked out after the session ends on May 3.
“We’re midway through the session but those types of negotiations are valid to continue even if we go past session and into the summer. I think if we continue to operate in good faith, there are things that are important to the tribe, and we’ll see where we go. But in an abundance of caution and in prudence, we’re not going to incorporate dollars in the budget at this time that aren’t guaranteed,” Galvano said.
He said the subject of online betting has been mentioned.
“That issue has come up. Nobody in the Senate, certainly not myself or Chair Simpson, has agreed that online gaming is something that the tribe should have,” Galvano said.
