{"id":7386,"date":"2014-05-12T15:10:51","date_gmt":"2014-05-12T15:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/2014\/05\/12\/florida-like-lucy-does-with-charlie-brown-the-legislature-keeps-promising-floridians-an-overhaul-of-gambling-in-the-state-then-pulls-the-ball-away\/"},"modified":"2014-05-12T15:10:51","modified_gmt":"2014-05-12T15:10:51","slug":"florida-like-lucy-does-with-charlie-brown-the-legislature-keeps-promising-floridians-an-overhaul-of-gambling-in-the-state-then-pulls-the-ball-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/2014\/05\/12\/florida-like-lucy-does-with-charlie-brown-the-legislature-keeps-promising-floridians-an-overhaul-of-gambling-in-the-state-then-pulls-the-ball-away\/","title":{"rendered":"(Florida) Like Lucy does with Charlie Brown, the Legislature keeps promising Floridians an overhaul of gambling in the state – then pulls the ball away"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nSpecial interests, infighting stall gambling overhaul<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\tBy JAMES L. ROSICA
\n\tTAMPA TRIBUNE
\n\tTALLAHASSEE \u2014 Like Lucy does with Charlie Brown, the Legislature keeps promising Floridians an overhaul of gambling in the state \u2014 then pulls the ball away.<\/p>\n

\tThis year was no different, with a grand run-up starting months before the legislative session.<\/p>\n

\tLawmakers spent nearly $400,000 on a 700-page study. The takeaway? Expanding gambling would offer \u201cat least a mildly positive impact on the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThen a group of senators led by Naples Republican Garrett Richter took to the road, holding a series of public workshops around the state.<\/p>\n

\tOne telling, early sign: The Orlando-based No Casinos in Florida group called out the Las Vegas Sands Corp., which has long wanted to build a destination resort-casino in the state. The organization revealed that one of the Sands\u2019 Florida lobbyists organized a busload of Tampa seniors to speak in favor of gambling at a workshop in Lakeland.<\/p>\n

\tDuring session, House lawmakers let their Senate counterparts do the heavy lifting. The Senate\u2019s gaming committee eventually produced a more-than-450 page rewrite of gambling-related statutes.<\/p>\n

\tThis time, House Speaker Will Weatherford pulled the proverbial ball away late in the session.<\/p>\n

\tHe said his chamber wouldn\u2019t address any gambling legislation before Gov. Rick Scott re-negotiates a revenue sharing deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which runs Tampa\u2019s Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, among other facilities.<\/p>\n

\tThere\u2019s been no definitive word from Scott\u2019s office on how close that deal is to done.<\/p>\n

\tMeantime, Richter says, don\u2019t blame legislators; blame the industry. At least 180 lobbyists were teed up to represent various gambling-related concerns this session.<\/p>\n

\tParimutuels \u2014 the horse and dog tracks \u2014 want to add slots and card games. Billion-dollar corporations want to build destination gambling resorts. Disney and other family-friendly tourism interests want the status quo.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThere\u2019s no consensus on which direction to go,\u201d Richter said. \u201cWithout that, it makes any issue a lot more challenging, especially the more people that have differing opinions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tFormer state senator Ellyn Setnor Bogdanoff knows that first-hand. In 2012, her proposal to permit construction of three destination hotel-casinos in South Florida died in the Legislature.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThere\u2019s too many special interests, too much infighting, and everybody has a different idea on how to fix things,\u201d said Bogdanoff, a Republican and now a private attorney and consultant in Fort Lauderdale.<\/p>\n

\tIzzy Havenick, vice president of Naples Fort Myers Greyhound Racing, says he\u2019s used to the finger-pointing.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe\u2019re always the ones getting blamed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tAnother effort known as \u201cdecoupling\u201d to help the parimutuels also died this year. It would have removed the requirement to run live animal races to offer more profitable card games.<\/p>\n

\tAs Bogdanoff put it, \u201cYou need both legislative leaders to have the political will, not to do nothing, but to really reform gaming and do the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tBut what is the \u201cright thing\u201d? At the least, she says, that includes creating an independent state commission to regulate gambling. \u201cWe need to have professionals managing this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tEven that proposal doesn\u2019t have consensus. John Sowinski, who heads the No Casinos organization, says a commission would just be a prelude to more gambling.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cNewer, bigger casinos require newer, bigger regulatory framework,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s like saying, \u2018We have to expand gambling in order to better regulate it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\tMany interests weren\u2019t even behind the statutory \u201ccleanup\u201d passing, Sowinski added: \u201cLogical reform gets held hostage to industry schemes of gambling expansion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tIronically, the Seminole revenue-sharing deal was once advertised as a bulwark against the growth of gambling.<\/p>\n

\tIn 2010, the state and tribe agreed to a 20-year \u201ccompact\u201d guaranteeing income to the state \u2014 $1 billion over five years \u2014 from the tribe\u2019s gambling revenue. In return, the state guaranteed the tribe exclusive rights to offer blackjack and other card games.<\/p>\n

\tScott, facing re-election this November, decided to address the card-game provision a year ahead of schedule; it expires in mid-2015.<\/p>\n

\tSome reports have Scott\u2019s team angling to double the state\u2019s take for another five years, though the Seminoles\u2019 attorney has said that\u2019s unlikely because of federal Indian gambling regulations.<\/p>\n

\tThe Seminoles\u2019 catbird seat gives heartburn to the state\u2019s parimutuels, which are still required to run dogs and horses to be allowed to offer other, more lucrative games.<\/p>\n

\tIn other words, their original business now has become their loss leader.<\/p>\n

\tHavenick worries that the Seminoles\u2019 casino in nearby Immokalee will eventually drive him out of business.<\/p>\n

\tHis Bonita Springs track is forced to run the most races of any track in America, he says: 408 performances of 8 races each, or more than 3,200 dog races a year.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe\u2019re frustrated, yes, because we\u2019re mandated to lose money by our governing body, the state,\u201d Havenick said.<\/p>\n

\tHe\u2019s cautiously, perhaps caustically, optimistic about chances for meaningful change from the 2015 Legislature.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI hope the Legislature will do what it can to ensure we continue to operate, pay taxes and employ people here in the great state of Florida,\u201d Havenick said.<\/p>\n

\tSenate President-designate Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, and incoming House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, have been no fans of expanded gambling.<\/p>\n

\tGardiner couldn\u2019t be reached, but Crisafulli said in an email, \u201cGaming has become part of our state, from public lottery games to private racetracks and tribal casinos.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAn added complication is that the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, an Alabama tribe that has land in trust in the Pensacola area, recently asked Scott for its own compact to offer Las Vegas-style play in northwest Florida. Scott\u2019s office had no update on that request last week.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cAs policymakers, the commitment that we must make to Florida\u2019s families is to ensure that (gambling) is managed fairly and regulated in a way that protects the quality of life we enjoy,\u201d Crisafulli added.<\/p>\n

\tThat\u2019s a big job, Richter said.<\/p>\n

\tIf lawmakers decide to take another stab at comprehensive legislation next year, \u201ceveryone with a dog in the race \u2014 no pun intended \u2014 will come out of the woodwork,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd it seems they\u2019re always more concerned with what the other guy\u2019s dog is going to get than their own dog.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

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