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Seminoles, state confident on deal

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By CATHERINE DOLINSKI

cdolinski@tampatrib.com

Published: August 26, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - With a Monday deadline looming, time is running short for state leaders and the Seminole Tribe to agree on a new gaming compact.

Both the tribe and state Rep. Bill Galvano, the House's lead representative on gaming issues, have met this week with staff for Gov. Charlie Crist, who is responsible for negotiating the final agreement.

Both sides sounded upbeat Tuesday, though no major breakthroughs were apparent.

Galvano, R-Bradenton, said he was evaluating the Seminoles' position and preparing to "provide some feedback as to what I think the members of the House and Senate would go for."

He was optimistic, he said, that a deal could be reached in time. He also stressed that lawmakers worked long and hard to reach consensus in the spring on compact parameters. They are disappointed, he said, that the tribe is treating that agreement as a "green light" to drive a harder bargain now.

"If it's something the Legislature's never going to support, and it was a difficult vote to begin with, they're spinning their wheels," he said, since lawmakers must ratify any deal for it to take effect.

The state and tribe embarked on a new gaming compact after the state Supreme Court found Crist had overstepped his authority in late 2007 by entering into a previous one without involving the Legislature.

That compact authorized slot machines and gave the tribe exclusive rights to offer banked card games such as blackjack in exchange for annual payments of at least $100 million. Despite the Supreme Court's 2008 ruling against that compact, the Seminoles continue to abide by its terms.

Exclusive gaming rights remain a sticking point in negotiations over the new compact, which would cost the tribe at least $150 million a year.

The tribe wants a guaranteed exclusive right to offer blackjack and slots beyond South Florida, but lawmakers left open the possibility for nontribal parimutuels to gain similar games. The tribe still would have to pay for the right to offer its games, unless competition hurts the tribe's bottom line.

The tribe also wants to be able to operate blackjack at all of its facilities, Galvano said. The Legislature's terms restrict games to certain facilities and require the tribe to take down some card tables already in operation.

"We're paying for the right to have slots and blackjack; that's what the money is for," said Seminole councilman Max Osceola, who was in Tallahassee on Monday to meet with Crist's staff.

Failure to reach agreement by Aug. 31 would nullify more than just the terms of the new compact. It also would nix the tax and regulatory breaks for nontribal racetracks and casinos that lawmakers and Crist approved as part of the package to help the parimutuels compete.

Those concessions are expected to increase parimutuels' revenue, which will reap more tax dollars for the state - $460 million through 2010-11, including money the tribe already has paid - but only if a compact with the tribe goes into effect. Recognizing there was no guarantee of a compact, lawmakers directed the revenue anticipated for this current fiscal year into a reserve fund for education rather than obligating the money for specific programs.

The legal implications of failing to reach an agreement are less clear. The tribe already is defying state Attorney General Bill McCollum and lawmakers by operating card games in accordance with the previous compact. McCollum has condemned this course of action but says he lacks legal jurisdiction to stop it.

Crist said Tuesday he is optimistic he will have a deal by the deadline. Whether lawmakers will ratify it, however, is another question.

"We'll have our work done," the governor said. "Then it shifts to the Legislature to decide whether they want to approve it."

Osceola said all parties are "closer to agreement than further apart."

He compared the compact terms to the sticker on a new car in a dealer's lot. "I don't know anyone who pays sticker price."

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