During last year’s special session on gaming, Florida legislators established the Florida Gaming Control Commission, a new law enforcement agency that will oversee gambling and related issues. Governor Ron DeSantis approved the measure, SB 4A, in May.
Now Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Julie Brown has asked the House budget panel to transfer $14 million from the Division of Parimutuel Wagering to the new agency, as well as an additional $10 million to cover the new Division of Gaming Enforcement, staffing needs, training for 15 law enforcement officers and other expenses.
More than $2 million of the nearly $25 million request DBPR outlined for the FGCC would cover one-time expenses, such as purchasing network servers and other technical equipment and outfitting 15 motor vehicles for the Division of Gaming Enforcement.
This year, lawmakers allocated $2 million for the FGCC to hire 15 initial employees. Under DBPR’s plan, 180 full-time officials, including five commissioners, an executive director and an inspector general’s office, will be hired. The Division of Parimutuel Wagering will maintain its current 109 employees, the Division of Gaming Enforcement will have 20 and the Division of Administration will have 29.
DeSantis has until the beginning of 2022 to appoint commissioners and until April 1, 2022 to name an executive director.
While developing its plan for the FGCC, DBPR officials received input from similar agencies in Nevada, New Jersey and others. “Through these conversations, we believe the requests that we are proposing will be sufficient to accomplish the commission’s goals while also remaining fiscally prudent for Florida’s taxpayers,” Brown said.
