Casino backers ready again to do battle for expansion in Florida

“If the Seminole tribe is not at the table, how do we talk about gaming? Whether it’s expansion or contraction,” Weatherford told reporters last week. “I’m not trying to expand gaming, I’m trying to contract gaming but there’s got to be some give and take to get there and I recognize that.” Scott has said only that he will “take the time needed to get the best deal for Floridians.” That falls short of the guarantee sought by Weatherford and puts the casino bill in a precarious position.

The compact, originally agreed to in 2010 by then-Governor Charlie Crist and the Legislature, lasts for 20 years but a key part of the agreement, the Tribe’s monopoly on banked card games such as blackjack or baccarat, expires July 1, 2015. If the rights to banked card games are given to other operators, or slot machine permits are given to operators outside of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, the Tribe can stop or reduce installment payments to the state totaling us$ 1 billion, originally agreed to in the compact.

Weatherford stressed his focus on “principles” in the gambling issue, and noted the Senate has not yet released a bill. That bill is due out next week, Senator Garrett Richter, chairman of the Senate Gaming Committee, has said.

The bill will include options for casinos in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, a gaming commission with a governor-appointed board to tighten oversight and regulation of most gambling operations in the state. Senator Andy Gardiner, next in line to become Senate President after the midterm elections, wants the Florida Lottery to be included in any gaming commission, but some lawmakers want to keep it independent of any new gaming oversight.
Richter has said the casino bill would be connected to a constitutional amendment requiring statewide approval for any new gambling expansion after the casinos are allowed, but Weatherford prefers to have the statewide vote to approve the casinos in the first place.

Casino lobbyists are optimistic that differences between the House and Senate positions can be smoothed over, but admit Scott has to take a more proactive role for the bill to pass. “I expect for the governor to weigh in at the appropriate time. I don’t expect him to take the lead,” Las Vegas Sands lobbyist Nick Iarossi said.

Scott’s re-election prospects loom large on every piece of legislation this year, and gambling is an issue where he’s remained decidedly on the fence. For the last casino bill push in 2012, he said only that he didn’t want the state budget to “depend on gambling.” Eventually, Scott will have to renegotiate the compact with the Tribe, but unless a bill reaches his desk, he won’t necessarily have to take a position on whether new casinos should be in South Florida.
In an anticipated tight electoral contest with Crist, a newfound Democrat, shoring up the support of social conservatives opposed to new gambling will be crucial for Scott, who has trailed Crist in every public poll thus far.

Weatherford’s position on the casino bill, though, puts the onus on Scott to take a position sooner than he might want -- before the election. “There’s clearly posturing going on,” Iarossi said. “Regardless of any public comments made I don’t think anything’s finalized.”