Miami gives go-ahead to casinos

“I would be willing to talk about gambling in the state of Florida, and even about its expansion, in return for its saling back in certain areas and for the approval of a  constitutional amendment,” said the President of the Chamber Will Weatherford, in an exclusive interview with The Herald / Times last Tuesday.
 
Weatherford added, however, that the Chamber would support new casinos if two conditions are met: Governor Rick Scott would have to negotiate a new gambling deal with Seminole Tribe in 2014 — a year before a key clause expires –  and the new casinos would not open unless a constitutional amendment is approved in November, demanding voters’ approval for any new games of chance after this year. “It is a trade-off I’m willing to enter into,” said Weatherford.
 
Weatherford, a republican from Wesley Chapel, said last week to the press that the approval of wide draft gaming legislation is not a priority for him on legislative sessions starting in March. He said that voters “must be in charge of the gambling expansion,” and described this expansion as referring to “all novelties”.
 
Weatherford changed his position last Tuesday, saying that legislators should be allowed to expand gambling this year, and from that point on, prevent the industry from expanding in the future, requiring a regional referendum for each future plan.
 
“I wouldn’t like to speak on behalf of the whole Chamber, but we have many legal voids that have created a games of chance system lacking in control by Florida voters”, he commented. “I would like to correct that. I would also like to generate long-term stability, so if any new company wants to come to Florida and expand gaming, or if any of the existing entities want to expand gaming in the state, they would have to go directly to the voters through a referendum and receive a 60 % vote in favor to do it.”
 
Because the President of the Chamber sets the debating agenda and controls which bills to prioritize, Weatherford’s statements last Tuesday breathe new life into an issue that seemed to have been shelved for another year.
 
Besides, legislators are guaranteed to have more time to seek campaign contributions for their policy action committees from the large multinational casinos, as well as from operators of horse racetracks, greyhound racetracks and jai alai in Florida that wish to have their own casinos.
 
“The fact that this is an issue that is currently being discussed by the Legislature is testimony to the political influence of the games of chance industry,” said John Sowinski, President of No Casinos organization, located in Orlando.
 
Sowinski said that the debate ignores the conclusions reached by Spectrum Gaming Group, to which the legislature paid us$ 400,000 to analyze the impact of new games of chance on the Florida economy. The report concluded that gambling would continue its expansion in Florida, and that this expansion would have little impact across the state because of the size of the regional economy. .
 
“Never before has so much intellectual energy been spent on such an unappealing issue for the public,” said Sowinski.
 
State senator Gwen Margolis, a democrat from Miami representing a large section of Miami Beach, said that she was surprised by the change of heart of the leaders of the Chamber, and questioned why a referendum at regional level should be a good policy for the future yet not for decisions taken this year.
 
“We should have a referendum at a regional level to decide this”, he added. “Miami Beach’s population does not want a casino in Miami Beach”.
 
Margolis said that legislators supporting it have a double standard. “They say that it is all right to have casinos as long as they are located in Dade, but they don’t want to have one in their own districts,” he said.
 
Weatherford’s statements put Scott at the core of the debate. If legislators approve Weatherford’s proposal, it could open the doors to the possibility of a special term of legislative sessions during the campaign for governor.
 
The governor is the only person in the state who is authorized to negotiate a deal with the Seminole Tribe in Florida, a sovereign nation holding the right to operate any games of chance option offered by the state.
 
A clause in the current agreement affords the tribe exclusive rights to operate card games at its 7 casinos until July 2015 in exchange for annual payments to the state. If the State allows a casino to offer the same games, the tribe can stop making the payments until it negotiates a new deal to obtain other exclusive rights.