Florida Senate President Joe Negron, who was sworn in office on Tuesday, told media that he would support the passage of a new gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, if that meant that additional revenue would enter the state’s coffers.
In 2010, the Seminoles and the state signed a 20-year agreement that provided the tribe with a five-year exclusivity over the operation of blackjack tables. Under the terms of the deal, Florida received close to $1.7 billion over the first five years.
The exclusivity period expired on July 31, 2015 but the Seminoles kept blackjack gambling options at their casinos even after that date. The tribe argued that the state had breached the exclusivity provision by allowing horse and dog race tracks to operate non-house-banked table games.
The Seminoles and the state countersued each other, each party stating that the other had acted in violation of the 20-year compact. Earlier this month, a federal judge sided with the Seminole Tribe, allowing it to operate house-banked table games until 2030 when the original agreement is set to expire.
Florida Governor Rick Scott and tribal officials were close to mending the issue earlier this year, reaching an agreement that would have secured the Seminoles blackjack monopoly over the next seven years in exchange for $3 billion in casino revenue to the state. However, a proposed legislation that included the deal failed in Legislature as it contained provisions that lawmakers considered gambling expansion.
Under the proposed bill, the Seminole Tribe would have been allowed to expand its banked table games offering. In fact, the legislation included provisions that would have resulted in an expansion of the state’s gambling industry as a whole, something legislators have been trying to avoid over the years.
Senate President Negron expressed hope that a new agreement would be negotiated during the upcoming legislative session, scheduled to commence in March 2017. The lawmaker pointed out that he would support a proposal that would treat fairly all gambling-related parties and would provide additional revenue for the state.
However, the Florida House of Representatives may think otherwise. On Monday, House Speaker Richard Corcoran reminded that they are “a very conservative chamber” and that they would only pass a conservative bill or one that would call for reduction of gambling rather than its expansion.
