House Gambling Plan On A Roll
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TALLAHASSEE (NSF) – Calling it a "love note" to the Senate, a key House committee Monday signed off on a sweeping gambling bill that would ratify a $3 billion agreement with the Seminole Tribe and allow pari-mutuels in at least five counties to add slot machines.
The measure, approved by the House Finance & Tax Committee, could also do away with dog racing --- and most horse racing --- while allowing tracks to keep operating more lucrative betting operations, such as card rooms and slots, a process known as "decoupling."
The proposal (HB 7109) would also allow slots at pari-mutuels in at least five counties where voters have approved them --- without allowing any decrease in the $3 billion the Seminoles agreed to pay to the state in exchange for being able to add craps and roulette to the tribe's casino operations.
That's a non-starter for the Seminoles, the tribe's lawyer Barry Richard told The News Service of Florida after Monday's committee vote.
"The tribe would not agree to this. You're asking for $3 billion. They're not going to give the state $3 billion and have more gaming around the state than they have now. It's not going to happen," Richard said.
But committee Chairman Matt Gaetz said the "elegance" of the legislation is that it provides an opportunity for the Seminoles to work with pari-mutuels to resolve their differences, because none of the elements of the bill would go into effect without the tribe's approval.
"Nobody gets anything if there is not mutual accord and consent and agreement," Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, said. "I imagine that … you would very likely see a negotiation between the tribe and the pari-mutuel facilities who benefit under the bill. And, if there is an inequity … that inequity can be cured by contract."
The agreement --- called a "compact" --- inked by Gov. Rick Scott and the Seminoles in December, would allow slots in Palm Beach County and at a new Miami-Dade County facility without affecting the $3 billion in payments, guaranteed over seven years.
Federal law requires that tribes have "exclusivity" regarding some aspect of gambling in order to justify state revenue-sharing agreements, which must be approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Richard said the measure (HB 7109) approved Monday is "not workable and the Department of Interior would never approve it."
But the proposal also includes a sweetener for the tribe: the prohibition of slot machines at any pari-mutuel facility within 100 miles of the Seminole's cash cow, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa. That would bar Tampa Bay Downs from adding slots, something the thoroughbred track has been trying to do.
The provision was added to give the Seminoles "the feeling that they are being protected, that they do have exclusivity within their region," House Regulatory Affairs Chairman Jose Felix Diaz told reporters late Monday afternoon.
"One of the things we know is that the Department of Interior is going to require some concessions. The Tampa facility is the biggest and most important facility for the tribe in Florida," Diaz, a Miami Republican who has negotiated for months with the tribe and Scott's office, said.
The changes to the House measure made Monday are intended to bring the House and Senate closer together on a gambling bill, with less than two weeks left in the legislative session.
"So in many ways this is our love note to the Senate," Gaetz said. "We are saying in good faith to our partners in the Senate … that we are open to working with you in a bipartisan, bicameral way to actually do something and not just be a figure of dysfunction and discord."
But the two chambers remain apart on a variety of issues.
On Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee is slated to consider its gambling proposal (SB 7072), which would decouple all horse and dog racing as well as jai alai, something not included in the House proposal.
The House committee on Monday also approved a proposed constitutional amendment (HJR 7113) that would require statewide voter approval of any future expansions of gambling, after the compact and pari-mutuel changes pass. The Senate is not considering a similar plan.
The constitutional amendment is the biggest difference between the two chambers, according to Diaz.
"It's something the House has maintained consistently is very important for passage on the floor," he said.
The House and Senate proposals both include language that would require the compact to recognize that fantasy sports --- which face allegations of illegal gambling --- are legal in Florida.
Finalizing a compact could put an end to litigation between the tribe and the state and could resolve a lawsuit pending before the Florida Supreme Court regarding slot machines at pari-mutuels outside of Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
In a federal lawsuit against the state, the Seminoles allege that gambling regulators have approved games at pari-mutuels that violate a 2010 agreement giving the tribe exclusive rights to operate banked card games, such as blackjack. That agreement expired last year, but the tribe is still conducting the games.
The Florida Supreme Court is poised to decide on a case involving Gretna Racing, a small horse track west of Tallahassee. The track launched a challenge after gambling regulators refused to allow the Gadsden County facility to add slots. The county is one of six where voters have approved slots.
"We'd go from two very, very tough scenarios where there's complex legal issues that could go either way to having some certainty for the next 20 years," Diaz said.
The News Service of Florida's Dara Kam contributed to this report.