Florida lawmakers will look to pass a sweeping gambling reform during the upcoming legislative session, which kicks off in January, instead of just focusing on negotiating a new gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe, local news outlets report citing information provided by House and Senate leaders.
Passing a legislation that pleases all involved parties has for years been one of the most elusive issues before the Florida Legislature and next year’s effort will not be much different. However, the passage of a gambling bill would be critical next year, as the state would need to offset the loss of around $350 million a year in payments from the Seminoles.
Commenting on how they plan to approach gambling this coming January, Florida Senate President Bill Galvano told The News Service of Florida that “what we need to start doing is looking at what’s available to us on the private side of the equation, versus just the compact.”
House Speaker José Oliva said that he agrees with his Senate fellow legislator. Florida’s current Senate President was the chief negotiator in the original gambling compact between the state and the Seminole Tribe that was signed in 2010.
House Speaker Oliva added that while it would be difficult to successfully pass a gambling bill next year, “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.”
The Failed Compact
During this year’s legislative session, the Florida Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis failed to reach a new agreement with the Seminole Tribe and put an end to a protracted legal battle over the so-called designated player games that Florida pari-mutuels were able to operate, despite the tribe’s protests.
Under the original 2010 gambling compact between tribal and state officials, the tribe agreed to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to the state in exchange for the exclusive right to operate blackjack.
The Seminoles sued the state, saying that it has violated its part of the agreement by allowing pari-mutuels to operate designated player games. A federal judge sided with the tribe and said that the designated player games indeed violated the provisions of the compact.
Shortly after the end of this year’s legislative session in May, the Seminoles informed the Legislature that they would stop making their annual payments “until the illegal banked card game issue is resolved.” As a result, Florida lost $350 million in revenue from the Seminole Tribe and its casinos.
Sen. Wilton Simpson, who will step in as Senate President after next year’s election, drafted a tentative agreement with the tribe, under which the Seminoles would have contributed at least $500 million in annual payments to the state, in exchange for exclusivity over card games. However, Gov. DeSantis refused to rubber-stamp the proposed new compact, saying he needed more time to review all related issues.
Are Florida Lawmakers Changing Their Course on Gambling?
Legislators did not include the annual tribal payments in Florida’s $92 billion budget and it seems that House and Senate leaders are ready to move on from the tribal compact and instead focus on finding other sources of gambling revenue.
One such source could be the state’s pari-mutuels that have a list of demands for lawmakers, and according to Senate President Galvano, the Legislature could next year review those demands and potentially deliver on them.
Items in the list include “codifying” the designated player games, increasing the current bet limits at the facilities, and the legalization of sports betting and daily fantasy sports.
Senate President Galvano said that they 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.”
However, the passage of a gambling bill could be hampered even further due to last year’s approval of a constitutional amendment that gives state voters the ultimate power to decide via a statewide vote whether gambling should be expanded on the territory of the state. Gambling-related decisions were previously mostly in the hands of lawmakers.
Source: State leaders could change course on gambling, FlroidaPolitics.com
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