Groundswell forms for open gambling in Florida

By Bob Rathgeber
© Ft. Myers News-Press
Thursday, November 12, 2009

Several previously ardent anti-gambling state legislators have come out swinging at the Seminole Indian tribe in an unlikely way.

They are proposing to open the state to casino gambling in counties that want it.

“Florida is a gaming state, No. 6 in the nation,” said State Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, chairman of the Select Committee on Seminole Indian Compact Review. “Right now we have all of the worst of gaming and none of the best.”

Galvano said his bipartisan group will meet in December and talk about options other than the contract that Gov. Charlie Crist signed last summer with the Seminoles.

That deal gives the tribe exclusive rights to deal blackjack and other table card games.

Crist’s proposal is likely doomed, Galvano said. Legislators said that’s largely because it precludes the state’s 27 pari-mutuel facilities — the Naples Fort Myers Greyhound Track in Bonita Springs is one of them — from new gambling games.

“We need to look at other opportunities for gaming for the state of Florida that might maximize our revenues,” Galvano said.

Crist estimates his 20-year deal would be worth about $6.8 billion over the life of the contract. There are no estimates, to date, what 20 years worth of competitive casinos might bring to Florida.

State Rep. Matt Hudson, R-Naples, who represents the Immokalee area where the Seminoles have a casino, agrees with Galvano.

“This is an interesting discussion ... it needs to be had,” Hudson said.

“I don’t gamble personally and I see people’s concerns — the social aspects — but it seems to me we opened the door to this a long time ago.”

Other committee members are speaking out, too.

“As anti-gaming as I was, it’s here, and it’s not going away,” said Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale. “You go to Plan B, which is free market.”

Rep. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, said “We can compete head on with the tribe. We need to say absolutely no to this compact — period.”

State Rep. Gary Aubuchon, R-Cape Coral, has a similar view.

“I am not a proponent of gambling per se,” Aubuchon said.

But, he said, he “can reconcile the issue where gambling already takes place ... .”

“Where I draw the line is on any discussion outside of that context,’’ he said. “The absolute last thing I would ever want to see is a change allowing slot machines at Disney World.”

The Seminoles don’t see what all the fuss is about.

“It’s heartening to hear that 59 percent of Florida voters support the compact, according to a recent independent poll by two major news organizations in the state,” said Gary Bitner, a spokesman for the tribe. He was referring to a statewide poll conducted by the Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times newspapers.

The state’s voters would have to approve open gambling. Three times in the past, a gambling initiative has been on the ballot, and voted down.

But that was before the worst recession since the Great Depression killed the economy, and gambling gradually expanded from the lottery to blackjack, to no-limit Texas Hold ’Em to Vegas-style slot machines in Broward and Miami-Dade counties and at Seminole casinos, such as the one in Immokalee.

“The county voting is an important aspect,” Galvano said. “What might fit well for Miami-Dade, for instance, might not, say, for the people in Polk County.”

Galvano said his committee is not grandstanding or saber-rattling to get a better deal with the Seminoles.

“We believe everything we do in any committee is serious,” Galvano said. “We have a lot of work to do with our tight budget.”

Additional Facts

Gambling by the numbers

*7 Seminole-operated casinos in Florida, including one in Immokalee.
*21 Minimum age to gamble in Florida casinos.
*27 Number of horse and dog racing tracks and jai- ali frontons, including the Naples Fort Myers Greyhound Track.
*$180 million Amount of money local governments would receive from state under 20-year deal Gov. Charlie Crist signed with Seminoles.
*$3.7 billion Gaming revenue in Florida, according to the latest figures.
*$6.8 billion Estimated value to state over the 20 years of Crist’s deal.