Crist's Indian Gambling Pact Faces High Court Challenge

TALLAHASSEE - House Speaker Marco Rubio filed a petition with the state Supreme Court on Monday seeking to require the Legislature's approval of any gambling deal with the Seminole Tribe.

The move could derail an agreement negotiated between the administration of Gov. Charlie Crist and the tribe and announced to much fanfare last week. Rubio, R-West Miami, had warned then that he thought the Legislature should have a role and that he was consulting lawyers.

The deal would allow the Seminole Tribe to offer card games such as blackjack in addition to Las Vegas-style slot machines at its seven existing casinos, including the Seminole Hard Rock Resort & Casino east of Tampa. Known as a "compact," the agreement is under review by the U.S. Department of the Interior, which has 45 days from it's Nov. 14 submission to approve or reject it.

Crist said he was operating under a Nov. 15 deadline issued by the Interior Department. The department had stated that if no deal was reached by then, it would impose its own procedures for tribal gaming.

The Interior Department procedures would not have allowed blackjack, but they also would not have allowed the state to share in Indian gaming revenue or have a role in regulation of the casinos. Crist's deal gives the tribe exclusive rights to "banked" card games such as blackjack and baccarat. In return, the state gets a cut of the tribe's gaming revenue, estimated at $1 billion over the first five years and a half a billion dollars a year thereafter. Crist recommended the gaming revenue go toward education.

"We are reviewing the petition to determine our best course of action," the governor said in a statement issued Monday by his office. "I am disappointed that the actions taken today may delay additional dollars to education."

An Interior Department spokeswoman said the compact remained under review in Washington. But it was not clear how court action might affect the federal review. Rubio, filing on behalf of himself and the full Florida House, asked the state high court to declare that legislative ratification is necessary for any compact governing gaming on Indian lands to be valid in Florida.

It is unlikely the deal negotiated by Crist would pass in the Legislature.

House Republicans have staunchly opposed new gambling in Florida. In September, Rubio and his top five lieutenants sent Crist a letter advising the governor of their stance. "Because of our opposition to the expansion of gambling, we believe that the pursuit of increased revenue for the state should be of secondary importance in Florida's negotiations with the Tribe," the letter states.

Other lawmakers, including those in the state Senate, represent districts with existing parimutuel facilities, and they're not pleased the Crist deal gives the tribe the exclusive right to blackjack.

Rubio's petition argues basically that it is a Legislature's duty to make laws and the governor's duty to execute them. It cites decisions by the supreme courts in five other states that negotiating a gaming deal is a Legislature's role.

"Although this litigation arises in the context of a debate over the expansion of gambling, the principles at stake are far larger than that single issue," Rubio wrote to House members. "This case is about protecting our system of checks and balances. Rather than place too much power in the hands of one person, our constitution divides power among three equal branches of government. I have an obligation to protect and defend the constitutional role of the Florida House of Representatives."

When the deal was announced last week, George LeMieux, Crist's chief of staff and one of the lead negotiators for the governor, said there is "no provision in our constitution for ratification of this compact and it is not our intention that the Legislature will ratify it."