In an 11-7 vote, the Florida House Ways and Means Committee recently passed HB 7037, which would renew the gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which expired in 2015. Tribal officials, however, called the proposal a “non-starter,” and major differences still remain between the House and Senate gambling bills.
HB 7037 would allow the tribe to retain exclusive rights to blackjack at five of its casinos. In return the tribe would pay $3 billion to the state over seven years. The money would be used for education.
The House measure’s sponsor, state Rep. Michael LaRosa, chair of the Tourism and Gaming Control Subcommittee which previously passed the measure 10-5, said, “The bill provides much needed certainty and predictability for years to come.” It essentially “freezes” the current level of gambling in the state, La Rosa said. He added the legislation closes loopholes that have allowed card rooms to offer designated-player games, reduces dormant parimutuel permits and revokes certain provisions that could unintentionally expand gaming in the future.
In a rare confluence, the House bill has the support of the anti-gaming group No Casinos, the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders Association and the Florida Greyhound Association. The bill is opposed by Democrats who want to offer more options to parimutuels that compete with the Seminoles.
State Rep. Joe Geller said, “The parimutuel industry has been a friend to this state. They’ve helped provide a lot of dollars for a lot of things to happen. They by-and-large are getting treated less well than they deserve for the service they’ve rendered the state. “State Senator Jo Abruzzo noted, “There’s no way the Senate is going to remotely take any of this that doesn’t have anything for our existing businesses and parimutuels.”
However, state Senator Bill Galvano, managing the related Senate bill, SB 8, said, “It’s only week three of the 60-day legislative session and at this point I am more focused on the fact that gaming bills are moving than the differences.”
The Senate bill would significantly expand gaming in the state by giving Miami-Dade and Broward counties each an additional slot casino and allowing the Seminole Tribe to offer roulette and craps in addition to blackjack. It also would license horse and dog tracks to install slots in at least eight counties where voters have approved them. And it would permit parimutuels to decouple horse or dog racing from gambling.
Galvano said the Senate has held meetings with Seminole officials and expects more changes to the bill, which is headed for a vote. But Seminole Tribal Council Chairman Marcellus Osceola wrote in a letter to Scott, Senate President Joe Negron and House Speaker Richard Corcoran, “Unfortunately, both the Senate and House bills would require dramatic increases in the tribe’s payments without providing increases in the tribe’s exclusivity sufficient to justify those higher payments.”
In the meantime, even without a compact, the tribe has continued to make payments to the state.
LaRosa said House members also have been talking to tribal officials. “They like our bill better than what the Senate has proposed,” he said. He added although Osceola’s letter has stalled progress, discussions will continue.
Abruzzo commented, the gambling industry “just wants anything to move past our committee processes so we can get to conferencing and everything can get negotiated and changed.” The House bill has one more hearing before it advances to the floor for a vote.
Meanwhile, a poll by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research indicated only eight percent of Florida voters would support expanded gambling in the state, and 84 percent said they’re satisfied with the amount of gaming in Florida, or would favor reducing it.
No Casinos President John Sowinski said, “It’s time to stop listening to gambling lobbyists and listen to the people. A vast majority of Floridians don’t want their elected officials to expand gambling, because they know that more gambling hurts the quality of life for them and their families.”
