According to a poll by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, 53 percent of respondents want gaming to remain as it is in Florida, 27 percent want expanded gambling and 19 percent want less gambling. Also, 30 percent of respondents said the Seminole compact has been mostly good for the state, 11 percent said it has been mostly bad and 54 percent were neutral. And 95 percent said the state’s entertainment options, which have been attracting record numbers of tourists, are family friendly to some extent.
In addition, asked if they support a 20-year compact with the Seminoles 37 percent said yes, 27 percent said no and 35 percent were undecided. But when provided details about the compact, including the compact’s economic impact, support increased to 75 percent and opposition dropped to 20 percent.
Mark Wilson, president of the Florida Chamber, said, “The Seminole Tribe of Florida’s compact presents Florida with the most reasonable path toward controlled gaming operations that also provide significant economic stability to Florida.”
But the compact’s chances of passing the legislature look grim, according to Senate Majority Leader Bill Galvano, who recently met with gaming industry leaders at the annual Florida Gaming Congress. “There is a very real possibility that we will not pass a compact this session,” Galvano said. The compact allows the Seminole tribe to offer blackjack plus roulette and baccarat at its casinos in exchange for $3 billion over seven years.
Galvano said the proposed compact needs more input from dog tracks, horse racing operators and other parimutuels before it can be supported by the legislature. In addition, Galvano said lawmakers need to have a wider-ranging discussion about how they wants to address gambling issues statewide. He said the issue will be “workshopped” in the Senate. “We’ll take a look at it and see if there is a better way to operate,” said Galvano, who also stated he was “surprised” Governor Rick Scott did not mention the proposed Seminole compact in his State of the State speech.
Galvano said without a new compact the tribe must shut down the card games. But James Allen, chief executive officer of the Seminole Tribe, said, the tribe has the right to offer the games. “I would tell you it is 100 percent not the tribe’s goal to litigate this. We would prefer to reach a resolution, have the compact signed, continue the amazingly positive relationship we’ve had with the state of Florida and move forward for the next 20 years,” Allen said.
Meanwhile U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle sided with the Seminole tribe over the state in an October lawsuit, ruling that the tribe did have a right to offer blackjack because Florida regulators violated the exiting compact and did not negotiate in good faith. The suit was filed upon the expiration of the 5-year tribe-state compact.
The 60-day Florida legislative session starts January 19 and Galvano said the compact review will begin by the second week. However, he said the issue may have to wait until the 2017 to address the various concerns it’s raising.
That was good news for parimutuel operators at the Congress. Under the proposed compact, pari-mutuels could not offer slot machines, except in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach. However, although many racetracks and jai alai frontons are facing challenges, they still have political clout in Tallahassee because they operate in so many legislative districts and have long been sources of campaign donations.
Former state Senator Steven Geller, the panel moderator, said there are several obstacles to compact approval. First, lawmakers focused on redistricting issues and did not hold gambling to prepare for the new session. Second, 2016 is a major election year with all 160 legislators up for re-election, who will have to answer questions about expanded gambling.
Izzy Havenick, vice president of Magic City Casino in Miami, predicted, “Nothing will happen but a lot of talk.”
