Florida's Race to the Bottom

Substituting common sense for campaign contributions and propaganda, the unraveling of Florida's Race to the Bottom parallels Massachusetts - no facts, no studies, no informed opinions and a cushy deal for the Gambling Industry (10% tax). Such a deal!

Florida Casino Bill Could Face Long Odds
By: Kenric Ward

Giving Florida's latest casino bill "less than a 50-50 chance" of passage, state Sen. Mike Fasano says the legislation would hurt existing gamers.

"I have concerns about pushing smaller groups out with an unlevel playing field" the New Port Richey Republican told Sunshine State News.

What's more, the legislation proposed by state Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, and Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, busts up Florida's gaming compact that requires the Seminole Tribe to pay the state $250 million a year for gaming rights.

Fresen has acknowledged as much, saying the Seminole compact is "toast."

Fresen and Bogdanoff are confident that rising revenues from mega-resorts in South Florida would more than offset any gaming losses elsewhere. But skeptics aren't so sure, and they question the equity of the legislation.

Currently, casinos at dog- and horse-tracks -- so-called racinos -- pay a 35 percent gaming tax rate. The Fresen-Bogdanoff bill sets just a 10 percent rate for the three "destination" resorts envisioned for Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

Fasano said the state must deal fairly with existing gaming facilities.

"They were around long before Disney and Busch Gardens. We should not be running them out of business," he said.

As for the tribal casinos, John Sowinski, head of the anti-gaming group "No Casinos," said the Seminole compact "was sold to the Legislature and the voters as a firewall against high-stakes casino gambling in Florida. That was part of the consensus-building process."

The Seminole Tribe did not respond to Sunshine State News' requests for comment, but its attorney, Barry Richard, has noted that the tribe has a 20-year contract with the state. Enactment of the Fresen-Bogdanoff bill (HB 487) would presumably nullify that accord and allow the tribe to cut its annual payments.

Bogdanoff has said she was "offended" by the Seminole compact brokered by then-Gov. Charlie Crist. The deal granted the Indian casinos an initial five-year monopoly on "Las Vegas-style" gaming.

Sowinski decried "the quick willingness to cast [the compact] aside," and critics of the Fresen-Bogdanoff bill say such shuffling of the deck is an early indicator of how big casino interests will manipulate the political process going forward.

"I'm not a fan of tribal wagering, but the Seminoles have been more responsible than the state in delivering what they promised," Sowinski said.

As an example, he pointed to the $1.3 million the tribe pays into an addicted-gambler treatment fund. The state, meantime, has scaled back on its own payments for compulsive-gambling programs.

Notably, the Fresen-Bogdanoff bill would assess the mega-resorts the same $250,000 tax for addictive gambling that is currently charged to much smaller venues around the state.

The Florida Council of Compulsive Gambling told Sunshine State News this week that the state passes along only a fraction of the proceeds for programs, however.

Facing deep and widespread resistance by the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the bulk of the state's powerful tourism industry, HB 487 faces long odds, Fasano said.

"I don't know if the Seminole compact is toast. But they can renege on the contract if major casino gambling comes here.

"I'm hoping that the Indians realize they play a major role, and that they won't stop contributing the revenue they provide, regardless of expansion," the senator said.