Gambling deal failure could see Palm Beach County slots
TALLAHASSEE — Thousands of gray-market slot machines could pop up in sports bars and strip malls, full-scale slot machines might launch in at least eight counties and several new card rooms could open in South Florida, thanks to lawmakers’ failure to pass gambling legislation this session.
The potential for a massive expansion of gambling could be the result of recent court decisions, as well as a looming Florida Supreme Court case. Republican leaders attempted to address the court cases in the ultimately doomed legislation prior to folding on the thorny gambling issue Tuesday.
T h e i mpas s e ove r t h e House and Senate gambling plans also dashed hopes, at least for now, for a new deal with the Seminole Tribe that could have reaped the state $3 billion over seven years.
Lawmakers were trying to establish the parameters for a new agreement with the tribe, called a “compact,” after a federal judge sided with the Seminoles in a lawsuit centered on “banked” card games, such as blackjack. The state is appealing the decision.
A portion of a 2010 compact that gave the Seminoles exclusive rights to offer the banked card games expired in 2015. But the judge ruled that the tribe could continue to conduct the games for the remainder of the broader 20-year agreement because the state violated the exclusivity provisions by allowing lucrative “designated player” games at pari-mutuel card rooms.
T h e F l o r i d a S u p r e me Court also is poised to decide whether pari-mutuel facilities can add slots in counties where voters have approved the machines, without the express permission of the Legislature. The lawsuit was filed by Gretna Racing, a tiny horse track in Gadsden County, but could affect Palm Beach County and six other counties — Brevard, Duval, Hamilton, Lee, St. Lucie and Washington — where voters also approved slots.
Whether to allow slots in the referendum counties was at the heart of the stalemate between House and Senate leaders. Allowing slots outside Broward and MiamiDade counties also could affect the revenue-sharing agreement with the tribe.