Seminole Deal Sets Up Florida
for Historic Gambling Expansion

By Lloyd Dunkelberger
© 2009 Lakeland Ledger Tallahassee Bureau
Saturday, June 20, 2009

TALLAHASSEE | When Gov. Charlie Crist gathered to sign one of the most expansive gambling bills in state history last week, he chose as a backdrop not a casino, horse track or jai alai fronton, but instead opted for the campus of a Miami high school.

At the Design and Architecture Senior High School, a highly acclaimed public magnet school, Crist endorsed the gambling legislation (SB 788), declaring it "will provide much needed revenue that can help us develop world-class schools throughout the Sunshine State."

In April, the governor had joined students and teachers at an elementary school in Miami to urge lawmakers to pass the bill that will let the Seminole Tribe expand gambling at its seven casinos around the state, including the Hard Rock Hotel complex in Tampa.

The fact that a Florida governor would openly praise gambling legislation in front of school children is a decisive signal that Florida is moving closer to Las Vegas in its tolerance for slot machines and blackjack and retreating from its Southern Bible Belt roots.

That move will accelerate later this summer if Crist can strike a 15-year deal with the Seminoles that will not only bring at least $150 million a year to the state but could also lead to expansion of gambling across Florida in the form of no-limit, 24-hour-a-day poker games and potentially slot machines or video lottery terminals at the local dog and horse tracks.

Florida's move toward casino gambling is troubling for some, particularly in a state where past governors have strongly opposed gambling.

"I never thought in my lifetime that I would see governor in the state of Florida go to an elementary school and proclaim casino gambling is going to help advance education. That's shocking to me," said Lawton "Bud" Chiles III, the son of former Gov. Lawton Chiles.

But others say Crist was trying to get the state the best deal he could given that the Seminoles would likely received federal approval for slot machines - with no state revenue sharing - if the governor and lawmakers did not act.

"I don't think you have a pro-gambling governor," said Marc Dunbar, a lobbyist for Gulfstream Park in Broward County. "I think you have a political pragmatist."

Supporters of the new law say Florida's gambling landscape has changed dramatically since Askew led the "NO Casinos" drive in 1976, resoundingly defeating a casino initiative on the ballot. In 1986, Florida voters endorsed a state Lottery, which now has more than 13,000 outlets across the state dispensing a state-sanctioned form of gambling that provides more than $1 billion a year for state schools.

In 2004, voters approved a constitutional amendment that allowed Broward and Miami-Dade County to install slot machines at local tracks and jai alai frontons. With state approval for Las Vegas-style slot machines, the Seminole Tribe, which began offering high-stakes bingo and other games on its tribal lands in 1979, was also entitled under federal law to have slot machines.

In 2007, Crist announced an agreement with the Seminoles, allowing them to have slot machines at their seven reservations as well as casino card games, such as blackjack. Last year, the tribe began offering slot machines and the casino card games at their facilities.

But last July, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that Crist did not have the authority to strike the deal with the Seminoles without seeking approval from the Legislature.

In early May, after more than two months of sometimes contentious negotiations, the House and Senate finally agreed on a bill that gives Crist until Aug. 31 to negotiate a new gambling deal with the tribe. The new agreement will have to come back to lawmakers for its final approval.

Under the potential agreement, the tribe can offer no-limit poker games and slot machines at its seven facilities, but the casino-style card games, like blackjack, can only be played at three facilities in Broward and Hard Rock in Tampa.

The law - contingent on reaching an agreement with the Seminoles - would also expand gambling elsewhere in Florida at the 26 horse and dog tracks and jai alai frontons.

The most immediate expansion would come in allowing no-limit poker games that could operate 24 hours a day during weekends in the cardrooms at the tracks and frontons. During the week, the games would be limited to 18 hours.

Currently, the card games are restricted to 12 hours a day, with limits on the betting.

Additionally, the law provides the potential for the local tracks to come to the Legislature for approval of more gambling opportunities, including slot machines. But the slot machines would only be allowed after a local referendum.

Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, who led the House negotiations on the bill, said his goal in developing the bill was to get "the best deal for the state," while also not benefitting "one group over another."

And unlike the governor's original pact with the tribe, the new law offers more to the state's existing tracks and frontons, including the expansion of their card games.

Dunbar, who teaches gaming law at Florida State University's law school, said the state has become a gambling mecca - ranking sixth in the nation in gaming activity.

He said that expansion has come in haphazard manner with one of the worst "regulatory structures" in the nation.

He said the new law is "the first step in the state going from a backwoods gaming to a mature gaming jurisdiction."

[ David Hackett of the Sarasota Herald Tribune contributed to this report. ]