Lawmakers could hold off on gambling deal


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  • | 12:00 p.m. May 8, 2015
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"There's nothing like a deadline to motivate people to action." - State Sen. Rob Bradley, About negotiations with Seminole Tribe
"There's nothing like a deadline to motivate people to action." - State Sen. Rob Bradley, About negotiations with Seminole Tribe
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With a high-stakes gambling deal with the Seminole Tribe set to expire in July, lawmakers may not have to hold a special session to keep it from falling apart, according to a prominent senator who was instrumental in crafting the agreement, called a compact, five years ago.

Any deal between the state and the tribe requires the Legislature’s authorization, but it’s possible that Gov. Rick Scott could sign a new agreement and lawmakers could ratify it as late as January when they return for the 2016 regular session, Senate Majority Leader Bill Galvano said.

A provision in the 2010 compact that gives the Seminoles exclusive rights to operate banked card games, such as blackjack, at five of its seven casinos expires July 31 unless the state renews it or inks a new plan.

The compact also gives the tribe 90 days after the expiration date to shut down the card games, but the Seminoles have raised questions about whether they are required to stop the lucrative games in the absence of a new agreement.

It was believed that the Legislature, which failed to endorse a new compact with the tribe after negotiations stalled during the regular session that ended last week, would have to authorize a new deal before the 90-day period runs out for the agreement to be in effect. But Galvano believes otherwise.

“(Scott) could modify the existing agreement to expand the banked card games unilaterally, subject to ratification by the Legislature,” Galvano, R-Bradenton, told The News Service of Florida.

The 90-day provision was included when the original compact was crafted in anticipation of the failure to reach a new agreement before the expiration date, Galvano said.

The Seminoles rejected an effort by Senate Regulated Industries Chairman Rob Bradley to extend the current compact for another year to give both sides more time to work out their differences.

House Majority Leader Dana Young, who is coordinating with Bradley in discussions with the tribe, said she was unaware of whether a compact could go into effect without the Legislature’s approval.

None of the three lawmakers expect the compact to be part of a special session on the budget scheduled to begin June 1.

“It would be nice if we could say we could do it. I would say it’s not realistic, but stranger things have happened,” Young said.

After the regular session’s abrupt end last week, Seminole leaders sent a letter to Scott, House Speaker Steve Crisafulli and Senate President Andy Gardiner requesting negotiations on the compact although the tribe had been engaged in informal talks with Bradley and Young off-and-on this spring.

Like the original compact, whatever agreement is struck between the tribe and the state will almost certainly include, at a minimum, elements dealing with pari-mutuel facilities in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Any changes to pari-mutuel laws — such as tax rates or additional games for South Florida “racinos” that have slot machines — would be dealt with in a separate gambling bill, as they were in 2010, Galvano said.

Passage of any effort to renew or expand the tribe’s card games — which reaped the state about $132 million last year — by the historically gambling-averse House could hinge on support from Democrats, many of whom represent South Florida districts that include pari-mutuel facilities.

Letting the clock run out on the card portion of the compact could help both sides reach consensus, Bradley said. “There’s nothing like a deadline to motivate people to action,” he said.

 

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