The Florida Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Finance and Tax unanimously approved SB840, the 90-page omnibus gambling bill filed by Regulated Industries Committee Chair Travis Hutson. Recently added to the measure is a provision that would renew the 20-year agreement with the Seminole Tribe of Florida and grant the tribe exclusive rights to blackjack as well as slots outside of South Florida in return for $3 billion to the state over seven years. Under the compact, those payments could be reduced or ceased if the state authorizes other forms of gambling, including online gaming. The deal also would allow the tribe to offer roulette and craps at its Hard Rock casinos in Tampa and Hollywood, and its five other Florida casinos.
Senate President-designate Bill Galvano commented, “The bill remains a work in progress until we ultimately know where we are with the Seminoles. If we know what the revenue from the tribe looks like, and we can create some equity with the parimutuel community, and we can do that in the next four weeks, we’ll do it. Chair Hutson is managing well to keep the bill moving forward.”
Legislators are concerned about keeping the bill “moving forward” because of the proposed Voter Control of Gambling constitutional amendment that will be on the November ballot. If it gets 60 percent statewide approval, voters, not lawmakers, will approve all future gambling expansion. Hutson noted, “With the ‘No Casino’ amendment on the ballot, and the likelihood of it passing, now more than ever it’s crucial that we discuss a compact with the Florida House and the tribe. This could be our last possible chance to regulate gaming as a legislative body, and the fiscal implication is hundreds of millions of dollars a year.” Pressure on lawmakers ramped up recently when a new survey of Florida voters indicated 76 percent approval for the constitutional amendment.
Unlike the House gambling bill, HB 7067, the Senate’s would allow designated player games. The games were the reason the Seminoles sued the state, claiming they violated the tribe’s exclusivity deal. The tribe won the lawsuit, the state appealed and a settlement was reached. The settlement requires the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to take “aggressive enforcement action” against parimutuels that violated the law by conducting designated player games. Under the agreement, the tribe may stop paying the state by March 31 if a dispute remains over the games.
The Senate bill also would allow horse and dog racetracks that have been conducting live events for the past five years to decouple live events from their parimutuel permits. As a result, the tracks could stop offering live races but keep lucrative slots. Greyhound owners and breeders oppose decoupling.
In addition, the Senate bill would prohibit pre-reveal games, which a Tallahassee judge ruled are illegal slots; the case is under appeal. The measure also would limit relocating gambling licenses and repeal summer jai alai permit conversions. Parimutuels in Broward and Miami-Dade counties desire these permits since they allow a facility to also open a cardroom and offer simulcast betting.
The Senate proposal also would reduce the tax rate for casinos in Miami-Dade and Broward counties to 30 percent in 2018 and to 25 percent in 2019.
Neither chamber’s proposal includes authorization for slot machines in eight counties where voters have approved referendums to allow them at local dog and horse tracks. Senate President Joe Negron stated lawmakers “owe it to the hundreds of thousands of fellow citizens who have approved slot machine referendums. They decided they wanted additional slots. I think that needs to be given great weight.”
However, the Seminole Tribe is against allowing slots outside of Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Galvano said, “They view that as a non-starter for a continued revenue-share payment from the tribe and cautioned that, at least from the tribe’s perspective, that they don’t believe that the Department of the Interior would approve a revenue share while at the same time having that level of expansion throughout the state.”
Another “non-starter” for the Seminoles is the Senate measure’s provision exempting daily fantasy sports from gambling regulation. Tribal Counsel Barry Richard said his client is “offended over gambling that violates its exclusive agreement with the state.” They won’t agree to a new compact unless the legislature ends attempts to expand slots and card games at parimutuels and allow daily fantasy play in state statute.
Three stand-alone DFS bills are in active status in the legislature. HB 223, filed by state Rep. Jason Brodeur, authorizes the agreement the Seminole Tribe made with Governor Rick Scott in 2016 and exempts DFS from state gambling regulations. The Tourism and Gaming Control Subcommittee recently passed the measure in a 13-0 vote. State Senator Dana Young’s S 374 recently cleared the Regulated Industries and the Rules Committees. It contains most of the same language as the House bill, but was amended to ban wagering on collegiate and amateur matches.
Galvano said, “I don’t think anything’s off the table at this point. There’s a lot in play. I want to see some numbers and what it means to the state of Florida before I make any decisions as to what is and what is not off the table. But I do believe progress is being made.”
