Florida Senate to offer 'substantial' gambling compromise

By Mary Ellen Klas
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
© 2009 Miami Herald
Monday, May 04, 2009

The Legislature's focus shifted to South Florida and its blackjack tables Monday as House and Senate leaders finished budget negotiations and started to address the major issue left undone: the gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe.

The Senate will offer a ''substantial'' compromise Tuesday to authorize gambling at the Seminole's Hard Rock casinos while also helping the state's parimutuels -- horse and dog tracks and jai alai frontons -- compete with tribal gaming, said Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales. He wouldn't disclose details.

''Clearly the compact offers some of the biggest revenues for the state but balancing all those interests for people like me who are reluctant to expand gaming . . . is a balancing act we'll have to work through,'' Alexander said.

Lawmakers have until midnight Friday to reach an accord on the gambling compact or they walk away from at least $288 million. That's the cash that will be sitting in the bank by June 30, 2010, under a gaming compact signed by the Seminoles and Gov. Charlie Crist but later invalidated by the courts.

SPECIAL SESSION?

If they don't reach agreement, Alexander said lawmakers may have to call a special session.

To get a new compact passed, gambling proponents have to win over lawmakers who want to protect their hometown horse and dog tracks.

The Senate wants to give parimutuels more gambling options, including video lottery terminals, which are slot machine look-a-likes. The anti-gaming House, however, rejects the idea of giving the parimutuels more games and also wants to limit the games the Seminoles can offer at their seven reservations.

The negotiations are complicated by two powerful outside forces. Owners of the Palm Beach Kennel Club -- located in Senate President Jeff Atwater's hometown -- want a chance to hold a local vote to determine whether they can offer slot machines. And Hialeah Park race track, shuttered for years, wants to re-open with quarter-horse racing, a card room and slot machines.

''It's not so simple as people think,'' said Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, who supports expanded gambling for South Florida horse and dog tracks.

The House and Senate have agreed to help the casinos currently operating in Broward and Miami-Dade by lowering the tax rate on slot machines from 50 percent to 35 percent. But they haven't decided how far to go to help other gaming entities, such as the dog tracks scattered around the state.

On Friday, the House offered a compromise that would allow the tribe to continue offering blackjack at its Hard Rock Casino near Hollywood, but not at any of its other gambling venues, including in Tampa.

Crist commended the House for ''substantial movement'' and said Monday he remained optimistic lawmakers would work out a deal by the end of the week.

`DEATH KNELL'

Some legislators say House and Senate leaders lost leverage this week when they separated the gambling issues from the education funding in the budget. That reduced pressure on anti-gaming House members to vote for the plan. Some legislators also say it allows lawmakers to drag out the issue for another year while collecting campaign contributions from the gambling industry.

''As long as the industry continues to give campaign contributions to the Republican Party of Florida, I would say the proposal's in doubt,'' said Rep. Ron Saunders, D-Key West. ``When they took out the funding tie to education, that was the death knell.''

Herald/Times staff writers Marc Caputo and Steve Bousquet contributed to this report. Mary Ellen Klas can be reached at meklas@MiamiHerald.com