Gambling our way out of hard times is nothing new
©2009 St. Peterburg Times
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Greyhounds, thoroughbreds and cesta-wielding Basques fueled the Florida dream during the 1920s boom. They weren't sanctioned, but they weren't exactly illegal either. The courts hadn't yet sorted it out.
Then in 1931, a vicious hurricane, housing market collapse and the Great Depression persuaded a revenue-starved Legislature to cash in. No sense in letting track and fronton owners scoop up all the riches. Let's allow the games and tax sin.
In 1987, people yearning for better schools brought the numbers game to convenience stores. Mobsters in Tampa and Miami made fortunes on bolita for decades. Why not a state lottery?
Now comes Powerball, with jackpots to entice an oil sheik. With state officials hoping it can revitalize flagging lottery sales, last week's kickoff drawing raised $3.5-million for schools.
One drawback to gambling as a tax generator is that dollars spent here diminish what gets spent elsewhere. In its heyday, parimutuel gambling provided almost 20 percent of state revenues. But the lottery, Indian gaming and out-of-state casinos killed it. The cost of regulating horse and dog tracks now eats up most of the tax money gained.
Lottery sales dwindle as casino gambling expands. Slot machines installed at just three parimutuel outlets in Broward and Miami-Dade counties attracted $3-billion in wagers last year, compared with $4-billion spent on all lottery games combined.
Florida misses out on these gambling dollars
Gov. Charlie Crist wants to seal an agreement with Indian casinos to allow table games and slot machines in exchange for a slice of the profits. Whether Florida can legally prevent them is open to debate. But clearly, many Floridians love casinos.
Indian gaming (Eight casinos, 2007)
Total bet: Not public
Estimated difference between bets and payouts: $1.6-billion
Gambling in Mississippi Visits from Floridian gamblers: 3.1-million (FY 2007-08)
Here's a rundown of legal gambling in Florida and how it affects state coffers.
Florida Lottery (2008)
Money bet: $4.2-billion (Scratch-off: $2.4-billion, Lotto: $779-million, all other games: $1-billion)
Paid out: About $2.1-billion (50 percent)
Revenue to State: About $2.1-billion
Slot machines (In three Broward and Miami-Dade parimutuel outlets, FY 2007-08)
Money bet: $3-billion
Paid out: $2.767-billion (91.5 percent)
Revenue to State: $123-million
Horse racing
Money bet: $869-million (FY 2007-08)
Paid out: $681-million (78.5 percent)
Revenue to State: $11.9-million
Dog racing
Money bet: $406-million (FY 2007-08)
Paid out: $309-million (76.1 percent)
Revenue to State: $10.5-million
Card rooms (At parimutuel outlets, FY 2007-08)
Money bet: About $1-billion
Pay out unavailable, but house take from pots was $91-million.
Revenue to State: $9.1-million
Jai alai (FY 2007-08)
* Money bet: $69-million
* Paid out: $51-million (73.9 percent)
* Tax and fee revenue: $559,880
Sources: Florida Lottery Commission; Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation; Mississippi Gaming Commission; Indian Gaming Industry Report (2008-09) by Alan Meister, Mark Dunbar, adjunct law professor at Florida State University
Gov. Crist, lawmakers differ on Indian deal
by The Associated Press
© 2009 Bradenton.com
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
TALLAHASSEE (AP): A House committee examining a potential gambling deal with the Seminole Tribe was told the agreement Governor Charlie Crist already signed essentially doesn't exist.
A lawyer in Attorney General Bill McCollum's office pointed to the state Supreme Court ruling last year that said Crist didn't have authority to enter into the agreement that let the tribe install slot machines and blackjack at its casinos.
Crist, however, said Tuesday the federal government could allow the games and the state would see no money from the deal that guarantees Florida $100 million annual.
McCollum's attorney, Jon Glogau, told the committee that Crist is mistaken and that the state has no obligation to enter a compact with the tribe, only to negotiate.