TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Gambling Bill Clears Senate Panel

ADVERTISEMENT

By CATHERINE DOLINSKI

cdolinski@tampatrib.com

Published: March 26, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - Teens could gamble, Tampa Bay Downs could install electronic bingo and the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino could offer roulette and craps under a pair of Senate bills that breezed through committee Wednesday.

The committee passage marked the start of what promises to be a tough negotiation between the House and Senate over the future of gambling in Florida. Eyeing a possible $1 billion windfall for the state, the Senate is embracing what one House leader derided as an "unbridled expansion of gaming."

The Senate Regulated Industries Committee took just 20 minutes to approve legislation that would expand gambling at the Seminole Tribe's seven Florida gaming sites, including the Hard Rock in Tampa. The tribe would be able to add roulette and craps to its slot machines and blackjack tables in exchange for paying the state at least $400 million a year.

Nontribal gaming facilities also would get less government and more gaming. The Senate would cut the state tax on slot machine revenue from 50 percent to 35 percent. South Florida racetracks would get blackjack; other parimutuels, including Tampa Bay Downs, could install electronic games such as bingo and poker.

Peter Berube, vice president and general manager of Tampa Bay Downs, said he welcomes any options that make his facility more competitive. "We've seen a definite decline in revenue since the Hard Rock expanded."

All told, the package could net Florida $1 billion, said Sen. Dennis Jones, chairman of the Regulated Industries Committee and sponsor of the legislation. The Senate is factoring about $500 million from gambling into its state spending proposal for 2009-10.

"You're either going to raise money for education in Tallahassee or you're going home to raise property taxes," said Jones, R-Seminole.

Gov. Charlie Crist said he probably could support the Senate plan, despite having campaigned against expanded gambling, but House leaders balked.

Bill Galvano, chairman of the House's panel on Seminole gaming, noted that Crist spoke publicly against a statewide gambling expansion less than a month ago. "I'm surprised that he would even be considering the possibilities that are in the Senate proposal," Galvano said.

The governor has been pressing lawmakers to approve a compact since last summer, when the Florida Supreme Court threw out the terms he had negotiated in 2007. Crist's compact gave the tribe Class III slots and exclusive blackjack rights in exchange for at least $100 million a year.

On March 3, Crist urged lawmakers in his State of the State address to approve those terms, which he said would "safeguard us against the expansion of gambling to every corner of our state."

Wednesday, the governor said he was responding to "the most profound economic change since the Great Depression." That means, he said, "we have to adapt and we have to adjust and we have to be open-minded in order to get through this."

Galvano argued that the Senate plan would bring the state substantially less than $1 billion because increasing gambling could hurt other taxable industries such as tourism and conventions. He is bringing forth a plan that, like Crist's compact, would trade exclusive gaming rights for $100 million a year. But the House bill would force the tribe to give up blackjack, giving the Seminoles geographically exclusive rights pertaining to slots only.

The House also will propose relief for the state's nontribal gaming industries. But it's unlikely to reach as far as the Senate, which, among other things, has proposed lowering the minimum age for playing some casino games from 21 to 18.

Reporter Catherine Dolinski can be reached at (850) 222-8382.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT