Gambling in Florida Update-Table Games

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Governor may bet on tribe's casinos
Florida's budget crisis prompts Charlie Crist, in a quest for tax revenue, to negotiate with the Seminoles.

John Kennedy | Tallahassee Bureau Chief
August 22, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - With Florida facing its worst state-budget crisis since the 2001 terrorist attacks, Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday that Las Vegas-style slot machines may be the answer.

Lawmakers may have to make as much as $1.1 billion in cuts to the state's $71 billion budget next month, because of an economic slump caused primarily by a sour housing market.

But Crist, who campaigned last year saying he was opposed to the "expansion of gambling" in Florida, said a deal in the works with the state's Seminole Tribe could soon bring millions of dollars to the state.

"I hope that the [budget] reductions don't have to be quite that much," Crist said. "There are some other opportunities we're looking for to help us with the budget challenges we have today. We're negotiating with the tribe."

Crist said talks could be completed this week on an agreement giving the state a cut of millions of dollars while the tribe gains slot machines and likely the exclusive right to hold such table games as blackjack, roulette and baccarat at the seven Seminole casinos in Florida.

The tribe's nearest Central Florida casino is in Tampa.

The U.S. Interior Department warned Crist in June that it wanted an agreement this week or it could authorize the Seminoles to have slot machines without state regulatory oversight.

If that happens, the state would likely draw no additional revenue from the new slots.

Still, the federal deadline appears flexible, with the Interior Department's Office of Indian Gaming now seeking a progress report on negotiations by Sept. 11.

Long-term problems?

But using the proposed agreement to plug a looming budget hole scares those already opposed to any expansion of gambling in Florida, home to horse- and dog-racing tracks, along with jai alai frontons.

If the tribe gets casino gambling, pari-mutuel facilities concentrated mostly in Central and South Florida are virtually certain to push next year for similar games to stay competitive, lawmakers say.

"This is a terrible idea," said Bill Stephens, executive director of the Christian Coalition of Florida, a longtime gambling opponent. "This may look like a short-term solution, but balancing the budget on gambling is going to bring long-term problems."

Crist's predecessor, Gov. Jeb Bush, adamantly opposed expanding gambling in Florida and personally campaigned against South Florida ballot initiatives aimed at allowing slot machines at tracks and frontons.

Bush, though, had mixed success. Despite his efforts, slot machines have been at three Broward County pari-mutuel facilities since county voters approved their entry in 2005. Miami-Dade voters rejected a similar initiative.

But when slot machines arrived in Broward, it opened the door for Indian tribes in Florida to get the machines, under federal law.

Negotiations with the Seminoles have been off and on for months, but now appear closer to a resolution -- just as the state's budget problems come into focus.

State campaign records show that pari-mutuel facilities, Indian tribes and other gambling interests pumped more than $2.5 million to Florida's ruling Republican Party during the 2006 election cycle and more than $1.2 million to the Florida Democratic Party.

Much of that cash, in turn, was spent in the governor's race.

Crist, however, has said he is simply trying to get the state the best deal possible in negotiations with the tribe by demanding some level of annual payment based on how many games can be offered at Seminole casinos.
He is also looking at the casino cash as possibly helping stave off deep budget cuts in a special session scheduled to begin Sept. 18.

The amount of money the state could reap from a deal with the tribe could range from about $50 million initially to $500 million in a few years, according to state Senate analysts.

Crist said he has some figures in mind. "I'm not prepared to share them with you," Crist said. "But they're not cheap."

Crist cited the gambling negotiations when asked how public schools could absorb as much as $720 million in budget cuts, which represents a 10 percent cut to the education operating budget.

Crist earlier this month received proposals for 10 percent budget reductions from state agencies as part of an exercise in advance of the special session.

Even so, Crist warned department heads that 4 percent cuts were likely to be faced by many agencies.

Possible cuts outlined included those in per-student spending, funding for a Tampa Alzheimer's research center, and cuts of $9.2 million in children's medical services and $13.1 million in statewide public health.

But Crist said his hope was that in the special session, "things like education and public safety are prioritized in such a way that there aren't reductions, but rather additions."

'An open question'

While working on an agreement with the tribe, George LeMieux, Crist's chief of staff, acknowledged that it's "an open question" about whether Florida lawmakers would have to approve the compact.

House Speaker Marco Rubio, R-West Miami, has taken Crist to task for allowing pro-gambling bills to become law in the eight months he has been governor, with card rooms at pari-mutuel facilities allowed to stay open longer and have higher betting limits.

Crist allowed that legislation to become law this spring without his signature -- a sign of some disdain. But that did not appease Rubio.

"The gambling industry in Florida, emboldened by the departure of Gov. Jeb Bush, has pushed aggressively to expand their enterprise," Rubio wrote in an editorial that appeared in last month's Florida Baptist Witness publication.

Rubio spokeswoman Jill Chamberlin said Tuesday that he didn't plan to respond to individual budget fixes being floated, including the prospect of expanded gambling.
 
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