Amid a tangle of legal issues, Senate President Joe Negron on Tuesday signaled support for allowing slot machines in counties where voters have approved expanded gambling.
Voters in Duval and St. Lucie counties last month approved referendums to allow slot machines at pari-mutuel facilities, joining six other counties that had done so earlier.
But the lucrative machines have not started whirling in the counties as the gambling industry, regulators and lawmakers watch a case at the Florida Supreme Court and legal issues involving the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
At a breakfast meeting Tuesday with reporters, Negron said he thinks the Legislature should follow the will of voters if slot machines are approved in referendums.
“I’m not encouraging counties to do that, but if voters in a particular county approve more gaming opportunities, I think we should respect the decision of those citizens and those communities to shape the way they want their communities to look,” Negron, R-Stuart, said.
Under a 2004 constitutional amendment, slot machines are allowed at pari-mutuel facilities in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
But a closely watched lawsuit is pending at the Florida Supreme Court about whether pari-mutuels in other counties can offer the machines after voter referendums.
The Supreme Court heard arguments in June in the case, which involves Gretna Racing in Gadsden County and the interpretation of a 2009 gambling law.
The case went to the Supreme Court after the 1st District Court of Appeal ruled the pari-mutuel could not have slot machines without the authorization of the Legislature, despite county voters’ approval.
Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Scott’s administration has started trying to negotiate a revised gambling agreement with the Seminole Tribe that also deals with slot machines.
Under a 2010 deal, the Seminole Tribe was given exclusive rights to offer certain games, including slot machines, in exchange for payments to the state.
The state and the tribe have been locked in a legal battle about the expiration last year of part of the compact dealing with “banked” card games, such as blackjack.
A federal judge last month ruled the state had violated the tribe’s exclusive rights to offer those games, giving added impetus to the negotiations.
But negotiations about a revised deal also could involve whether the tribe would have exclusive rights to offer slot machines outside of Broward and Miami-Dade counties — and how that would affect the counties where voters have approved referendums.