In a 12-6 vote, the Florida House Regulatory Affairs Committee recently approved ratifying the Seminole compact negotiated by Governor Rick Scott and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which would allow the tribe to exclusivity to offer blackjack plus craps and roulette at their seven casinos in exchange for billion over seven years. The committee also approved a bill that would decouple racing from gambling and permit slot machines in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. In addition, committee members passed a measure requiring any future expansion of gambling in Florida, not already approved in the compact, to be approved by voters statewide through a citizen-led initiative.
Bill sponsor state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz said, “Doing a gaming bill is like putting a queen-size sheet on a king-size bed. It’s impossible to accommodate the interests of every single person. What I tried to do was come up with a fair and balanced bill.” Diaz called the bills “a work in progress. “It is a living, breathing deal, but when you do things to that deal you may require it to be on a ventilator,’’ he said.
In the Senate, the Senate Regulated Industries Committee did not vote on state Senator Rob Bradley’s bill, due to a last-minute amendment introduced by state Senator Joe Negron that would allow the six dog and horse tracks outside of Palm Beach County, where voters have approved slot machines, to install the games. Negron’s amendment also would direct $50 million from the Seminole compact to Florida horse breeders and owners; the Diaz and Bradley bills offer only $10 million. In addition, Negron’s amendments include language confirming fantasy sports are legal in Florida. “I think everyone understood that the compact was a first draft for the legislature to consider. Without addressing the issues in my amendment, there are not enough votes to pass the compact in the Senate. My amendment actually increases the likelihood of the bill passing,” Negron said.
Bradley said budget discussions could push any final compact deal to the final week of the legislative session, which ends March 11. “All the same challenges that existed six months ago, one month ago, one week ago, still exist today,” Bradley said. Diaz added, “Every week that we don’t have a bill is a week closer to the bill dying. It could very easily be one of those bills that we’re deciding at the very last moment. It just sort of looks and smells like it.” However, Bradley and Diaz both stated there is “plenty of time” for the legislature to finalize a deal before the session ends on March 11.
In addition to ratifying the compact, which would convince the Seminole tribe to move forward with its $1.8 billion expansion that includes a guitar-shaped hotel at its Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, both the House and Senate proposals would expand gambling in the state. The Senate plan, however, includes buying back certain gaming licenses.
Both proposals would allow video racing terminals at parimutuels outside South Florida. Miami-Dade and Broward parimutuels would get tax reductions on slots operations; the Senate bill would lower taxes from 35 percent to 25 percent, and the House measure would lower taxes by 5 percent, plus another 5 percent for parimutuels that reduce the number of on-site slots.
Both the House and Senate bills would allow racetracks and jai alai frontons to decouple racing from poker and slot machines. Greyhound tracks would be allowed to decouple completely, while horse racetracks would have only “partial decoupling” under the House plan. As a result, Hialeah Park Race Track, Pompano Park and Calder Casino could end horse racing but keep their slots licenses. But horse breeders and owners are adamantly opposed to decoupling. Joe Pennacchio, president of the Florida Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association, said, “There seems to be a misnomer that the horse racing business is not doing well. The fact is there aren’t as many people live at the track, but I’m sure the permit holder at Pompano Park will tell you his business is up 30 percent. The revenue is there.”
Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez, on the other hand, said “quarter horse racing has not been successful” since lawmakers authorized it plus a slots casino at Hialeah Park six years ago. He said the community would like for Hialeah Park to build high rises around its racino and “create thousands and thousands of jobs.”
The previous Seminole compact, signed in 2010, expired last July 31, but the tribe has continued to offer blackjack at its casinos. Both the tribe and the state have filed lawsuits over the issue.
Meanwhile, the Voters In Charge committee, which supports a proposed constitutional amendment to give voters more control over gambling, said it has collected 100,000 signatures toward getting the issue on the 2018 ballot. Committee Chairman John Sowinski, who also heads the anti-gambling group No Casinos, said, “When we launched this petition drive in October, we outlined a plan that called for hitting this goal of collecting enough signatures, that when validated, would result in the total needed for the Supreme Court to review the initiative, and we have achieved that goal.”
Sowinski said the amendment would “ensure that Florida voters shall have the exclusive right to decide whether to authorize casino gambling in the state by making citizens’ initiatives the exclusive method of authorizing casino gambling. The people of Florida should have the ultimate say when it comes to deciding on gambling expansion, not gambling industry lawyers and lobbyists.”
Also, the Seminole tribe has launched a new 60-second television ad called “Saving Florida Jobs,” designed to convince lawmakers to approve the Seminole compact. The spot features casino workers who said their jobs would be threatened if the compact isn’t ratified. Seminole officials have said about 3,700 jobs are at risk. The ad is running in Tampa, Miami, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Jacksonville, Fort Myers, Mobile-Pensacola, Tallahassee, Panama City and Gainesville.
Back at the House, Diaz said, “We have the votes in my committee” to pass the proposals. “Everybody’s ideal scenario won’t come true. There will be tough decisions for us to make as a body. I don’t know if there will be anybody out there that will feel like they got everything they wanted. But the bill will be in a posture that is passable and will continue the conversation for us to live to fight another day.”
