The state of Florida will lose about $350 million in annual payments from the Seminole Tribe of Florida, since an agreement could not be reached regarding designated player games offered at parimutuels across the state. A federal judge found the designated player games violated the state-tribal compact requiring the Seminoles to pay $350 million a year in exchange for exclusive rights to operate banked card games, such as blackjack at its Florida casinos.
State Senator Wilton Simpson, who will become Senate president after the 2020 elections, had negotiated a tentative agreement with the tribe during the 2019 legislative session. According to that proposal, the Seminoles would have paid the state $500 million a year if the state pledged to shut down designated player games, plus other conditions. However, DeSantis did not sign the legislation because he said he needed more time to consider the issues.
Soon after the session ended in May, the Seminoles told DeSantis they would stop making the annual payments to the state “until the illegal banked card game issue is resolved,” meaning designated player games.
Now the state is considering its next step. President Bill Galvano said the “ship has sailed” regarding the Seminole compact money. He noted, “The underlying point is, financially, we’ve moved on from the tribe. We didn’t rely on the revenue share last budget and there’s no reason to believe we have to recreate that revenue share going forward.
“If we’re not getting revenue, there’s no reason to provide exclusivity to operate banked card games. We realize it’s a new day, so we’ll take it from there. We need to start looking at what’s available to us on the private side of the equation, versus just the compact.”
House Speaker José Oliva said gambling legislation “has suffered from its own complexity and its many layers for years and I don’t think that this year will be terribly different. We do have a governor that has fresh eyes and wants to see all of the options, and we have in President Galvano somebody that understands the issue in depth and wants to explore all options, and I’m certainly open to it as well.”
One option, Galvano said, is weighing how much the state could receive if the legislature gives parimutuels what they’re asking for, including officially allowing designated player games, increasing bet limits and authorizing sports betting and fantasy sports. “Lawmakers should start looking at all those other opportunities, because if we can operate without the cloud of exclusivity and increase revenues for the state of Florida, then let’s do it,” Galvano said.
One challenge, however, is the constitutional amendment Florida voters passed last November requiring statewide votes on any future gambling expansion. Previously legislators controlled those issues. Galvano has said legalizing sports betting would not trigger the voter referendum requirement. But an official with the political committee behind the amendment said, “The legislature neither has the authority to enact or propose an expansion of casino gambling in the state. Period.”
Galvano said lawmakers can introduce their own gambling-related constitutional amendment proposals on the ballot—even including “repealing that amendment and restoring the legislature’s ability to expand gaming.” Galvano said the legislature could authorize sports betting through passing a statute and “push that constitutionally” as an extra precaution.
Galvano added he wants to look at gambling regulations that fall under state law, like allowing parimutuels to relocate their permits, extend operating hours and increase bet limits. These perks would especially benefit parimutuels in Broward and Miami-Dade counties that offer slots. Parimutuel operators have long stated the tribal compact gave the Seminoles a competitive advantage.
Some Senate leaders have suggested introducing legislation to help the parimutuels and to negotiate with the Seminoles again. Galvano said, “When you look at the magnitude of the dollars from the compact, ultimately, I think we hope we can work them both out. If you cannot do that, then I think what the president is saying, find another way to get those resources. But you really have to think of it in terms of both, not each.”
Oliva said if a new Seminole compact again offers exclusivity, “we have to make sure that exclusivity is properly compensated.” Resolving the issue won’t be easy, he added. “If the past is any indication, the odds are not great. But there’s a building pressure. If there’s not going to be a workable compact with the tribe, then we do have to figure out in what way are we going to manage gaming in the state, and what are going to be the proceeds of that to the taxpayers of the state,” he said.
