The Seminole 2010 Gaming Compact Limits the State’s Options
Garrett Richter, the chairman of the Florida Senate’s Gaming Committee, ended his attempt to pass a comprehensive bill that would have allowed resort casinos in South Florida. Richter said he did not have the votes to move the legislation to the Senate floor.
Instead, Garrett Richter is deferring to Governor Rick Scott on the measure. The announcement was made by the committee chairman during a floor debate on Thursday afternoon. The debate centered around a $75 billion budget proposal.
Saying the committee could not come to a consensus on the matter, Richter said the committee would not bring up the proposed bill when it meets next week. He explained, “It has become increasingly apparent to me that, even on our committee, reaching consensus on a 400-page gaming reform bill just is not in the cards.”
Rumors the Gambling Bill Would Fail
For some time, speculation has been growing that Florida lawmakers would be unable to pass a comprehensive gambling bill during its 2014 session. Despite the Florida Senate holding meetings across the state about the issue, the kind of grass-roots support needed to make resort casinos an election issue did not exist. Lawmakers had spent $400,000 on a gambling study, so the announcement disappoints proponents of increased gambling in the Miami Metropolitan Area.
Will Weatherford, the Florida House Speaker, earlier had called for the governor to take a leading position on the issue, much like Richter has. For a month, Weatherford has said his chamber would not approve any sort of new laws until Governor Scott finished his negotiations with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Florida has a 20-year gambling deal with the Seminole Tribe, but part of that bargain is set to expire in mid-2015.
2010 Gaming Compact Is an Obstacle
The state’s negotiations with the Native American tribe are focused on a 2010 compact which gives the tribe exclusive rights to operate banked card games at five of their seven gaming venues over a 5 year period. To secure that bargain, the Seminoles agreed to pay the state a minimum of $1 billion.
If regulated slot machines (besides those owed by the Seminoles) are operating outside of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, then the tribe would be able to halt those payments. Under such terms, putting in new gaming machines anywhere but the southern tip of Florida would cost the state up to $200 million.
Seminoles Have the Financial Hammer
The deal allows the tribe to reduce payments if pari-mutuels (racetracks) were allowed to have banked card games (players versus dealer games). If slots are authorized for gaming operations in Miami-Dade or Broward that were not operating when the deal was signed, the Seminoles could reduce payments. Only Hialeah Race Track is exempted from the deal.
Just like the previous compact, a new deal would pivot on exclusive rights for the tribe (possibly in specific geographic areas) and revenues paid to the state for those rights, but the federal government would have to approve any new revenue-sharing plan.
Though negotiations continue with the Seminole Tribe, Governor Scott has not indicated how current negotiations are going. At present, it is hard to ascertain where Governor Rick Scott stands on the issue. Until now, he has suggested that Florida legislators should take the lead. Now it appears those lawmakers are putting the responsibility back on the state’s chief executive.
Waiting to Negotiate
Having done so and been rebuffed, Garrett Richter has concluded the wisest course is to wait until the current deal expires, then negotiate better provisions regarding exclusivity and revenue-sharing.
When asked about the current state of gaming reform, Richter said, “If we put the gaming reform cart in front of the Seminole compact horse, we run the risk of getting policies at cross-purposes. The wiser course is to be patient and to address comprehensive gaming reform in the context of a compact ratification.”
Election Year Politics
Even if were not for the sticky provisions of the 2010 compact, election year politics might have derailed plans for comprehensive gaming reform. Florida has long seen a close split in the electorate between the Republican and Democratic factions, so politicians are not prone to take chances in an election year. With the mid-term elections coming up in November 2014, gambling reform is the type of issue which could touch off political debate, due to moral and social concerns.
