Gambling amendment going on ballot in Nov.
It requires voter OK for any form of casino gambling.
TALLAHASSEE — Florida voters could make decisions in the future about casino-style gambling, including slot machines, under a proposed constitutional amendment that will appear on the November ballot.
The “Voter Control of Gambling Amendment,” largely bankrolled by a Disney company and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, would require voter approval for any form of casino gambling, an issue now largely controlled by the state Legislature.
Backers of the amendment, which will be on the ballot as “Amendment 3,” this week topped the 766,200 petition signatures required to go before voters in November.
The Florida Supreme Court this past year approved the ballot language.
Like all constitutional changes, the proposal requires 60 percent approval from voters in November to pass.
If ultimately approved, the proposal would give voters the “exclusive right to decide whether to authorize casino gambling” in the state. The change would require voter approval of casino-style games, such as slots, in the future.
The amendment pits the state’s gambling industry — and many members of the Legislature — against anti-gambling advocates in what is expected to be a high-dollar campaign before the fall election.
John Sowinski, chairman of the Voters in Charge political committee behind the amendment, predicted that both sides would spend “millions of dollars” to convince voters one way or the other about the proposal.
“We didn’t spend what it took to make it to the ballot to leave things to chance. I would suspect that it’s a significant eight-figure campaign that we will wage to support it, and if anyone wanted to come after it, I would suspect the like,” Sowinski said Wednesday.
Of nearly $6.5 million in cash and in-kind contributions collected by Sowinski’s committee, Disney Worldwide Services contributed $4.35 million, and the Seminoles, who operate tribal casinos, gave nearly $1.3 million. Other contributions came from the group No Casinos.
The constitutional effort comes after the Republican-dominated Legislature has repeatedly failed to agree on sweeping gambling packages in recent years.
Among the issues that lawmakers have grappled with is whether to authorize slot machines in eight counties — Brevard, Duval, Gadsden, Hamilton, Lee, Palm Beach, St. Lucie and Washington — where voters have approved the machines in referendums.
If the amendment becomes law, voters statewide would have to approve expansions of gambling even in single counties.
Pari-mutuels in small counties might not have the resources to launch campaigns to get their proposals passed, critics said.