Gov. Rick Scott swiftly signed into law Wednesday a prohibition against the electronic games used at Internet cafes, a measure rushed to his desk after a massive criminal investigation and the resignation of his lieutenant governor.
The new law is expected to shut down the industry, which critics have likened to "storefront casinos."
"This bill is to crack down on illegal gaming, that's what the House and Senate did," Scott said after signing the bill, HB 155, which became effective immediately.
Critics, including the Florida Chamber of Commerce, have said the rampant growth in the number of the strip-center businesses has been due to offering games that are similar to Las Vegas-style slot machines.
Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said after Scott signed the bill that the businesses are a "front for gambling."
Lawsuits are expected to try blocking the law, and the Florida Arcade Association was quick to condemn it.
"With the stroke of the governor's pen, thousands of jobs were lost today," said Gale Fontaine, president of the Florida Arcade Association. "With all the effort that is put into this state to create jobs, it is unconscionable that the state is acting to put people in the unemployment line."
Fontaine estimated that more than 200 senior and children's amusement centers could be shuttered by the ban, with the law reverberating down into bowling alleys, airports, restaurants and movie theatres.
The law was quickly shepherded through the Legislature after an investigation led to raids last month at Internet cafes across the state and the arrests of 57 people. The scandal also forced the resignation of former Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, who in the past performed consulting work for Allied Veterans of the World, a charity at the center of the investigation.
The new law is intended to end a gray area in state statutes used by operators of Internet cafes who claim the games are contests of skill and similar to regulated sweepstakes offerings by places like McDonalds, Coca Cola and churches.
The law does not affect slot machines at state-approved pari-mutuel facilities and tribal casinos.
Backers of the bill claim that retail stores and children's entertainment centers that offer coin operated games, including Wal-Mart, Chuck E. Cheese's and Dave & Buster's, would not be impacted.
However, the arcade association says those big chains are just as vulnerable and law enforcement should be required to focus on them the same as the cafes and arcades.
"We all recognize and support shutting down unscrupulous Internet cafes, but this new law throws out the proverbial baby with the bath water," Fontaine said. "The new law is spawning fear among business owners across the state because of its ambiguity and lack of clarity."
The law would require machines to be coin-operated, with prizes to be merchandise-only and valued up to 75 cents.
Association members claim senior arcades shouldn't be lumped in with the cafes as "they pay out cash, we pay out gift cards."
"We pay our taxes, we pay our real estate rents, pay payroll," said John Sasso, sales manager for Hollywood-based Electromatic International. "Plus with the gift cards 6 percent of each goes to the local economy."
Sasso estimated that the ban will put 3,000 to 4,000 people out of work directly and indirectly, in addition to impacting the thousands of seniors who frequent the centers.
"A lot of it is social for the seniors, it's more than just putting $5 into a machine to win a gift card," Sasso said. "Some places serve three meals a day."
Asked about the impact on workers at the parlors, Scott pointed to his session priorities of providing a $2,500 pay raise to teachers and the elimination of the 6 cents sales tax on manufacturing equipment that "will create more manufacturing jobs."
On Wednesday, the measure, HB 391, to end the sales tax on manufacturing was backed by the House Economic Development and Tourism Subcommittee.