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Gambling Governor Loses His Deal In High-Stakes Game Over Casinos

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 8, 2008

Few observers of Florida's gambling mess are surprised that it has come to this puzzling point.

The state Supreme Court has thrown out an agreement Gov. Charlie Crist made that allowed the state to collect truck loads of taxes from the state's tribal casinos. If no replacement deal is made, the federal government is likely to give the casinos slot machines tax-free.

A majority of the Legislature might refuse any deal in order to take a high-profile stand against the expansion of gambling. The fear of such political posturing is why Crist tried to cut lawmakers out of the process.

His contract with the tribes was a good one but he was wrong to try to stretch his executive power. He gave the tribes the right to conduct table card games that would be illegal elsewhere in Florida.

In December we urged Crist to submit his plan to the Legislature for ratification and not wait until the Florida Supreme Court ordered him to. The court was exactly right when it said last week that the governor lacks the power "to bind the state to a compact that violates Florida law."

The best solution now is for the Legislature to either endorse Crist's agreement or else say how it will replace the $100 million a year in revenue the tribes have agreed to pay.

A number of principles are at stake:

The governor doesn't make laws in Florida. Only the Legislature, or the voters through constitutional amendment, can do that. That issue is settled.

Gambling in Florida should not expand, at least not any more than is necessary to make sure the state treasury gets a fair share of the take. Whether it will is an open question. By giving the casinos, including the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa, exclusive rights to blackjack and baccarat, Crist would have kept those games out of the dog tracks and other state-approved gambling venues. Some lawmakers don't think that's fair.

In theory, all parties should be treated equally. That is easier said than done, given the federal rules that allow the reservations to conduct any gambling that a state allows anywhere else. Unless the tribal casinos get a monopoly on something, they may escape with paying nothing to the state. The only way to treat the state's other tracks and poker rooms fairly would be to expand gambling everywhere, something neither most voters nor most lawmakers want to do.

Less gambling is better than more gambling. Money gambled at slot machines, card tables and on lottery tickets is money not spent elsewhere in the economy.

Voters need to be more careful what they ask for. Florida voters made a watershed decision in 1986 when they approved a state lottery. They unwittingly opened the door for more gambling, and opened it wider still in 2004 when they voted to give Broward and Miami-Dade counties local control over adding slot machines to parimutuel sites. When Broward said yes, it was only a matter of time until slots also appeared in the Indian gambling halls. Now the state has $30 scratch-off tickets, is joining the nationwide Powerball game, has tribal casinos that resemble the best Las Vegas has to offer, and has energized the non-tribal gambling industry to push for more action here.

With all that going on, any talk of sacrificing Crist's $100 million a year to get tougher on gambling is just a bluff. The state needs what Crist negotiated, both the money and clear rules limiting gambling's relentless expansion.

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