Attorneys for both the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the state of Florida recently asked a federal judge to reschedule a crucial trial that will determine if the Seminoles can continue to offer blackjack at their casinos. Both parties requested the two-week trial be moved from July to October to give them more time to prepare and to interview potential witnesses.
The Seminoles filed the lawsuit last October after the compact provision allowing the tribe to offer blackjack at its casinos expired last July. That negated the tribe’s monopoly on offering house-banked card games at its casinos. The state filed a lawsuit to force the tribe to stop offering blackjack and other banked card games, but the tribe filed its own lawsuit that claimed the state violated the compact in 2009 by allowing state racetracks to offer electronic versions of these games.
The lawsuit also claims the state acted in “bad faith” in negotiations regarding the banked card games. Tribal lawyer Barry Richard said the state forced the tribe to rework the entire 20-year agreement, instead of focusing on the card-related provision. “They would not negotiate the card games unless it was tied to the whole big enchilada, and that was tied to pleasing the parimutuels. And, in my opinion, that’s not good faith. The rest of the compact is set in stone until 2030. The parties together can mutually change that. But they can’t say the only way we’re going to negotiate the renewal of the card games is if you agree to give us more money on the rest of it. That’s not good faith.”
If the judge agrees with the tribe, Florida will lose hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue the Seminoles now share with the state.
Last December Florida Governor Rick Scott and tribal officials negotiated a new compact granting the Seminoles exclusive rights to blackjack, plus craps and roulette, in exchange for $3 billion over seven years in a 20-year compact that would have netted Florida about $9 billion. The tribe also signed off on slots for the Palm Beach Kennel Club and at a new facility in Miami-Dade County.
However, the legislature rejected the deal, which would have made the trial unnecessary. Meanwhile the Seminoles continue to offer blackjack at their casinos and pay the state, which does not cash the checks–yet. No new compact is expected to be approved until 2017 at the earliest.
Gambling interests also are watching another case pending before the Florida Supreme Court that could allow slots at parimutuels and also cause the state to lose Seminole money. Gretna Racing in Gadsden County filed the lawsuit after Florida gambling regulators refused to allow it to have slots although voters had approved them. But the state claimed only the legislature has that authority. Voters in Brevard, Hamilton, Lee, Palm Beach and Washington counties also have approved slots at their parimutuels.
State regulators denied applications for slots in four counties. The Palm Beach Kennel Club joined the Gretna lawsuit, as it was appealing the rejection of its slots application when the Supreme Court took on the case.
State Senator Rob Bradley, who negotiated the rejected compact with the Seminoles, said, “If they rule in a way that resulted in slots being granted to Gretna and potentially being granted to other places, it makes it more difficult to unwind and to un-ring that bell, legislatively.”
State Senator Joe Negron, the next Senate president, said he plans to make compact approval a priority. “It’s important for us to have predictability and certainty in the gaming industry in Florida. I would love to be able to use the additional revenue that would come from the Seminole compact to fund some of the higher education priorities that I have. I don’t understand why people say it’s so complicated. It’s not. It can be done.”
Another compact negotiator, state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, added, “At least we know now, having gone through session and seen all the changes that were attempted, what many of the legislators want out of the gaming compact, so we’re in a stronger place to negotiate.” He noted, “I don’t think the members truly understand just how much leverage the Seminole Tribe has. I don’t think the membership truly understands just how complicated federal Indian gaming law is and how everything that we do here has to be approved by the federal government.”
Former state Senator Steve Geller, former president of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States, noted, “I think next year, more likely than not, if the Supreme Court rules by fall on the Gretna case, then you have the conditions for a compact.” And Seminole spokesman Gary Bitner said, “The tribe is going to take time to carefully consider all of its options.”
In the meantime the Miccosukee Tribe is unaffected, due to its “tradition of isolation,” said Nick Sortal, the Miami Herald’s gaming columnist. He wrote since the tribe doesn’t have a gaming compact, it doesn’t have to share revenues from its Miccosukee Resort and Gaming, which only offers Class II games. “Estimates put their casino revenues at $72 million to $106 million a year, with tribal members each receiving around $100,000 a year,” Sortal wrote.
However, the tribe currently is in a dispute with the federal government over unpaid income taxes.
