Does Florida need money for education? How about not robbing the transportation trust fund to pay for other budget shortfalls. The State continues to cry about a strained budget and now the Seminoles offer $1 billion in cash. In turn, they want a gambling monolopy. What is a state with twisted priorities to do?
QuoteThe Seminole Tribe offered $1.1 billion to entice lawmakers to support their gambling plan.
BY MARY ELLEN KLAS
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
TALLAHASSEE -- As legislative budget negotiations reached a stalemate Wednesday, Gov. Charlie Crist and the Seminole Tribe offered the state a financial lifeline: $1.1 billion in cash over two years in return for giving the tribe a gambling monopoly.
The deal would allow the Seminoles to continue running blackjack tables at their Hard Rock Casinos, plus five other tribe sites, and it would give them the exclusive right to operate Class III slot machines outside of Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
In return, the Seminoles would send the state an unprecedented check for $600 million in 2009-10 and another for $500 million, if needed, in 2010-11. During the 25-year agreement, the total minimum payment to the state would be $2.5 billion, minus interest payments for the upfront money in the first two years.
The trade off for Florida: no payment at all in year three, then payments that would slowly ramp up again in years four through 25.
Crist called it ''significantly improved'' over the gambling agreement he originally negotiated in 2007, which was later invalidated by the Florida Supreme Court because the Legislature had not made blackjack legal in Florida. He commended the Seminoles for their generosity.
''That's a tremendous assist, at the right time, by wonderful people,'' Crist said.
Tribe leader Max Osceola called it ``a great day.''
Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, said the Seminole cash ''could be valuable'' and provide some comfort to lawmakers as they negotiate differences in the budget.
But the lead gambling negotiators in the House and Senate called it a bad deal for Florida.
''Our approach to the compact is not about filling a fiscal need,'' said Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton. ``We are facing budget problems, but taking out a line of credit from the Seminoles is not a responsible way to balance our budget . . . Front loading the payments is a short-term solution that will lead to long-term problems for our state and its industries.''
Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, the Senate's lead negotiator, said the agreement seems to indicate the governor has backed off his support for the Senate plan to offer additional games to horse and dog tracks to better allow them to compete with the tribe.
''Now that there's more money up front, the Indians don't want parimutuels to have any expansion and that's probably not going to sit well in the Senate,'' Jones said.
The proposal must be approved by the Legislature to become law. In addition to the upfront cash, the agreement allows lawmakers to reduce the 50 percent tax rate on the seven parimutuels operating in Miami-Dade and Broward counties to 35 percent. It allows them to operate 24 hours a day, offer free alcohol to patrons, set-up ATM cash machines on the casino floor and raise poker limits.
The proposal also eliminates an earlier provision that if the tribe's net wins decline below $1.37 billion, their payments would cease.
''With the exception of the funding, there were no material changes,'' said Barry Richard, a lawyer for the tribe who helped draft the proposal.
He said the tribe decided to offer the money when it became clear that lawmakers were struggling to find a way to fill their budget deficit.
The tribe arrived at the $600 million figure because it roughly equals the difference between the House and Senate budgets and also because it combines the amount they would have owed the state this year under the previous agreement -- $288 million -- and the amount they can borrow from financial markets.
Under the plan, the state would split the cost of the loan 50-50 with the tribe.
''This changes the whole picture,'' Richard said. 'Who else can give the state $600 million? . . . It would be difficult for the Legislature to say `no thanks.' ''
''I say take the money and run,'' said the Senate Republican leader, Alex Diaz de la Portilla of Miami. He praised the deal as ''creative'' and a way to avoid cuts to ``critical services for vulnerable Floridians.''
For the parimutuel industry, it's a tough bargain.
''It's a reasonable offer,'' said Marc Dunbar, a lawyer and lobbyist for Gulfstream Race Track in Hallandale. ``But I don't see any significant change in the tribe's position. There are a lot of legislators who have parimutuels in their districts that are outside Dade and Broward. Are they going to be willing to take the money from the tribe and forsake their incumbent industries?''
Crist has an answer: ''Do this for the children of Florida.'' He said he believes the money should be dedicated to education and urged lawmakers to be open-minded.
He is also optimistic that in years three and four, the same years the stimulus money from the federal government ends, the economy will have rebounded and the state won't need the cash.
''It is already starting to happen in fact -- the hopeful beginning of the end of the recession,'' he said.
He said the tribe's offer is ``more than what we have right now -- which is nothing.''
http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/1013185.html
this is easy....gambling is morally wrong and we should not support it under any circumstance.
Oh wait, we alrerady have gambling....the lottery, existing casinos, pari-mutuals, etc.
Ok...I have a better idea...how about we sell leases for oil exploration 3-10 miles offshore....each permit would cost $1 billion....and then we can put that money to the Florida Forever land preservation program.
How's that for some logic?
If we don't sell those oil leases soon the world is going to leave oil behind and they won't be worth anything. :D
Sounds good but we should proceed with caution.
Why not open the entire state to Gambling? Its going to happen eventually anyway. Rake in the tax dollars, I say. Build some Casinos on Jax Beach, bring in the money.
Limit big casino signs around town though. St. Louis has a very small area with casinos but it is littered with gambling billboards.
Florida may gamble on casinos for revenueQuoteIn this spring’s Legislative session, which is scheduled to end Friday, the House and Senate have approved different versions of a bill that would expand legal gambling in the state.
The House version would change things slightly. It would require the Seminoles to stop offering games like blackjack while allowing them to continue to offer Las Vegas-style slot machines. It would ban slots from the rest of the state, except Broward and Miami-Dade. The bill calls for the Seminoles to pay $100 million to the state annually in exchange.
The House bill would also expand the hours and the betting limits at facilities like the two poker rooms operated by the Jacksonville Greyhound Club.
The Senate version calls for more dramatic change. It gives the Seminole tribe full-fledged casinos, including roulette, craps, slot machines, blackjack and other banked card games as well as poker without limits in return for at least $400 million annually. It would give Miami-Dade and Broward counties blackjack and other casino card games as well as Vegas-style slots. Horse and dog tracks and jai alai frontons would get video lottery terminals.
King said the decision to give the Seminoles the opportunity to run full-scale casinos was made with the idea they would become tourist destinations the way casinos in Nevada are tourist destinations. He believes if the Senate bill is approved, the state could eventually realize $1 billion a year in new revenue.
full article: http://www.jacksonville.com/news/florida/2009-04-28/story/florida_may_gamble_on_casinos_for_revenue
Why limit the gambling to South Florida? Shouldn't the entire state get the option to expand as they see fit?
The Seminoles want a monopoly on gambling in Florida. This is why they are attempting to sweeten the pot by giving our broke state $1 billion in cash for that right.
Nevermind. I have no idea of why the House's proposal looks the way it does. I guess they are battling the moral issue.
We have the best CASINIO site in Florida (THE JEA PROPERTY DOWNTOWN) and these BAS***DS want to deal us out of the game? Tallahassee can you spell SUE?
OCKLAWAHA
Casinos at the Shipyards.
This is a gold mine we are walking past.
Yah
Hit the Casino, see a Jags game, Then hit the Casino again. What a fun day!
copperfiend. If we could have waterfront casinos Jacksonville would be the tourist destination of the southern east coast. I believe Florida could see a new golden age of tourism. Spend a few days in Jacksonville for mom and dad and a few days in Disney for the kids
This compromise will generate $150 million a year for Florida schools.
QuoteHouse and Senate reach deal on Seminole tribe gambling
By Josh Hafenbrack | Tallahassee Bureau
9:19 PM EDT, May 6, 2009
TALLAHASSEE -- Legislative leaders struck an 11th hour accord on Seminole gambling Wednesday, in a deal that would authorize table games at Hard Rock in Hollywood and generate $150 million a year for Florida schools.
The deal, hatched after a week of back-and-forth negotiations between the House and Senate, would ratify tribe blackjack, baccarat and other games at the tribe's two franchise Hard Rock casinos in Broward County and Tampa.
Outside those two areas, the Seminoles would be limited to Vegas-style slot machines. The tribe has two reservations in southwest Florida and a third on the northwest rim of Lake Okeechobee.
"This is a victory for the children of Florida and for education," said Gov. Charlie Crist, who lobbied intensely for a revenue-generating Indian gambling deal. "I couldn't be more pleased, I really couldn't."
The full Legislature will vote on the gambling package Friday, while lawmakers are in town in an extended session on the budget.
After that, Crist and the Seminoles would negotiate the technical terms of the agreement, which also needs ratification from the five-member tribal council. The tribe had a cautious reaction to the deal, saying it was "under review," according to a spokesman.
Pari-mutuel racetracks and jai alai frontons, which are struggling in Florida's competitive gambling market, won concessions in the deal, too. They got a lower tax rate on South Florida slot machines, no-limit poker and nighttime thoroughbred racing.
The deal includes no expansion of slots or electronic gambling outside South Florida, a victory for conservatives in the House.
The Seminole gambling issue morphed into a running drama at the Capitol, with the House and Senate at odds most of the spring. The conservative House wanted to send a message and shut down the Seminole blackjack tables. The gambling-friendly Senate wanted full casinos, including craps and roulette.
In the end, they met roughly in the middle. The deal came together just as the two sides appeared ready to declare an impasse, after a testy Wednesday morning meeting left negotiators from the two houses far apart.
"That didn't go real well, huh?" Senate negotiator J.D. Alexander, R- Lake Wales, deadpanned to reporters after the House stormed out.
But a few hours later, the House came back witha final offer, agreeing to card games in Tampa, a previous sticking point. After huddling behind the dais, Senate leaders agreed.
The deal would generate $300 million in next year's state budget, counting money the tribe already has put in escrow for gambling over the last two years.
Over the next 15 years, the tribe would pay the state $150 million a year, plus a cut of net profits based on how much money the tribe makes from slots, blackjack and other card games.
"We think it's important to have those resources to help us get through the next year," Alexander said.
The House's point man, Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, said the tribe would be "hard pressed" to turn down the deal. "I think being able to keep those card games at those two flagship facilities [in Hollywood and Tampa] is something that they probably will not want to risk losing," he said.
In 2007, Crist and the Seminoles negotiated the original gambling deal that gave the tribe Vegas-style slots and card games. With much fanfare, the Seminoles rolled out Florida's first blackjack games at Hard Rock in Hollywood on June 22, 2008.
But two weeks later, the state Supreme Court invalidated the gambling agreement, saying Crist overstepped his authority by signing the so-called compact without legislative approval. Ever since, the tribe's gaming activities have operated under a legal cloud.
Complicating the politics, the well-connected pari-mutuel industry lobbied hard for their piece of the action. Their argument: They can't compete with the Seminole juggernaut, which has better games, an extensive PR operation and a low tax rate.
One thing the pari-mutuels didn't get in the deal: blackjack games at tracks in South Florida. To get blackjack, track owners would have to come back to Tallahassee and convince the Legislature to allow a local referendum on the issue. Then, voters would have to sign off.
But, for the tracks, a lower tax rate on voter-approved slots in Broward and Miami-Dade counties was a major victory. The new rate would be 35 percent, down from 50 percent.
"Yeah, we'd love to have blackjack -- that would put us on a level playing field," said Marc Dunbar, a lobbyist for Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach. "But we worked hard to get a lot of these provisions. The lower tax rate is big."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-bk-gambling-talks-in-trouble-seminoles-050609,0,936001.story