TALLAHASSEE · Voicing concerns that expanded gambling will hurt Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush on
Wednesday reluctantly signed into law a bill that gives the green light for Las Vegas-style slots in
Broward County.
"I oppose the expansion of gambling because it is detrimental to Florida's economic development and
hurts Florida's families," said Bush, a staunch opponent who had tried to defeat the constitutional
amendment that opened the door for slots. "However, I have a constitutional duty ... to implement the
voter-approved initiative."
Owners of the county's four pari-mutuel facilities predict a boon for the area and for Florida's schools,
which are expected to reap a $209 million benefit from slots tax revenues by the 2007-08 school year.
"This isn't only a boon for the county, it also now offers protection for those people who partake in
gambling, whether it's regulated or not," said Dan Adkins, vice president of Hollywood Greyhound Track.
He referred to nearby unregulated Indian gambling.
The state has six months to establish detailed rules of operations -- including security requirements for
the machines and how money will be handled. If the state doesn't act by June, the pari-mutuels will still be
able to open with temporary licenses.
"We've got to get those slots going for a number of reasons. It's good for the shareholders and horsemen.
It's also good for the community and education in the state," said Dennis Mills, vice chairman of Magna
Entertainment. The company owns Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, where a $171 million renovation
already is under way.
Mills said Gulfstream, which is building a 40,000-square-foot complex that will include restaurants and a
sports bar, wants to have its machines up and running in six months. On Wednesday, opening day of the
2006 racing season, only part of the new complex was ready for business and a casino-style room packed
with slot machines was still four months away.
Plans are also in the works to turn the county's other three aging pari-mutuels -- Hollywood Greyhound
Track, Pompano Park harness track and Dania Jai-Alai -- into glittering entertainment complexes.
Each will be allowed to install up to 1,500 machines, which will be taxed at 50 percent -- one of the highest
tax rates in the nation.
Adkins, who led the drive to get slots approved by voters statewide in 2004 and then in Broward in 2005,
has scaled back his original expansion plans because of the tax rate -- opting to renovate his existing
building instead of creating a new addition.
"We'll see how it goes," he said. "We'll get people in because the demand is there for gambling. Once we
begin operating and offer bettors a payback of 91 to 94 percent, we'll draw large crowds."
Adkins said he could have slot machines up and running "within an hour of rules being issued, as long as
they are not intentionally punitive."
The Isle of Capri Casino Corporation, which owns Pompano Park, is holding its winter meeting in Broward
next week and is expected to decide the scope of its renovations.
"The original scope of the project was in the $165 million range but I anticipate that budget may be pared
somewhat," said Dick Feinberg, general manager of the harness track. "But it's still going to be a major
expenditure." He hopes to have 1,500 machines up and running by the end of the year.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is hiring 39 new agents and analysts who will be responsible
for monitoring the slots operations.
Staff Writer Dave Joseph contributed to this report.
After OK by Bush, July start possible
Gov. Jeb Bush signed into law a bill that allows slot machines to start spinning at four Broward
parimutuels.
By Erika Bolstad
ebolstad@MiamiHerald.com
© 2006 MiamiHerald.com
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Gov. Jeb Bush, an avowed gambling opponent, on Wednesday signed a slot-machine bill that marks the
broadest expansion of the state's gambling laws since the Florida Lottery was introduced in 1988.
As soon as late July, four Broward venues could be reeling in cash from slot machines -- in addition to the
dog and horse racing, jai-alai matches and poker rooms they already offer.
Bush, who successfully campaigned last spring to keep slots out of three Miami-Dade parimutuel sites,
said Wednesday he felt he had a ''constitutional duty'' to sign the bill, despite personal opposition.
''I oppose the expansion of gambling because it is detrimental to Florida's economic development and
hurts Florida's families,'' Bush wrote in a letter that accompanied the signed bill.
Now the details of implementing the law shift to the state's Department of Business and Professional
Regulation, which has six months to draw up guidelines for operating the slots. The agency has hired a
Tallahassee law firm, Ausley and McMullen, to help.
Lawmakers have already made some decisions: No more than 6,000 machines in the county, operating at
most 16 hours a day, every day of the year; no free alcoholic drinks; no gamblers younger than 21.
Bush's letter expressed concern that if DBPR doesn't work quickly, slots could go forward under
temporary rules.
He cautioned the parimutuels against pursuing frivolous rule challenges that could slow the process and
allow them to operate under temporary and less restrictive licenses. And Bush asked lawmakers to keep
an eye on the process.
They plan to, said Rep. Frank Attkisson, a Kissimmee Republican who helped write the legislation.
''I think oversight is our role right now,'' Attkisson said.
``The lottery, there were concerns with that at first. We'll probably have those with this in the next year or
two or three.''
Proceeds from the slot machines will be taxed at 50 percent and the money must supplement education in
Florida; the average return to gamblers will be 85 percent. Lawmakers will decide this spring how they will
spend the money, an estimated $100 million in the first year.
One popular idea: a laptop computer for every Florida middle-schooler.
With the law signed, parimutuel managers said Wednesday that they are well on their way toward firm
opening days.
The most ambitious casino expansion plans are at the county's two race tracks: Gulfstream Park
thoroughbred track and the Pompano Park harness racing track.
Gulfstream, which opened its racing season Wednesday, is completing a $171 million expansion to its
grandstand and clubhouse. The track, owned by Magna Entertainment, also is moving forward with plans
to build 1,000 condominiums, a shopping center, a 500-room hotel, a movie theater and offices.
The new development will work nicely with the gambling expansion, said Dennis Mills, a Magna vice
president. He thinks slots could be up and running within days of final state rules.
''The dovetailing of the slots sort of makes it all come together,'' Mills said. ``We're good to go.''
Pompano Park, owned by the Isle of Capri casino company that owns also owns a number of casinos in
Mississippi, plans to spend about $160 million to build a 150,000-square-foot entertainment complex that
will include slot machines.
''We want to present a first-class facility consistent with what the Isle of Capri does,'' Solomon said. ``We
have 15 other casinos, so we're going to have a venue and a product that people are going to like and
know it's a casino and are going to want to come back to.''
Hollywood Greyhound Track, owned by Hartman and Tyner, already has been renamed the Mardi Gras
Racetrack and Gaming Center. It will be remodeled with a New Orleans theme, much like one of the
company's West Virginia dog tracks with slots.
No plans have been announced yet at Dania Jai-Alai, a relatively small one-site operation without the
resources of the three other Broward parimutuels. Several gambling observers have speculated that the
company's president, Steve Snyder, will consider selling his parimutuel license, or would offer one of the
larger gambling companies a management contract to run slot machines at the fronton.
Bush pushing for tribe compact
Upgraded slots would match pari-mutuel plans in state
By Mark Hollis
Tallahassee Bureau
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Friday, January 6, 2006
TALLAHASSEE · Negotiations between the state and tribes over an expansion of Indian gaming rights
will soon take on new urgency, Gov. Jeb Bush said.
A day after signing a bill that allows Broward County's four pari-mutuel operators to install slots, Bush
told reporters that his administration is ``going to get more engaged now'' in developing a compact
between the state and the tribes.
The Seminoles and Miccosukees started talks months ago with the state government to allow the tribes to
install Las Vegas-style slot machines, known as ``Class III'' gaming devices, at their casinos. Those talks
have not come to an accord.
The tribes have said they are entitled to upgrade their current video lottery terminals, or Class II,
machines, because of voter and state government approval of similar slot machines in Broward County.
The Seminoles operate casinos in Hollywood, Coconut Creek, Tampa, Immokalee and Brighton. The
Miccosukees operate only one casino, which is in western Miami-Dade.
Under federal statutes, tribes are entitled to offer gaming that other parties in the state do, as long as
they enter into a compact with the governor. Any pact is expected to include terms for regulating the
operations and sharing revenue from the machines with the state government.
Bush, a staunch gambling opponent, reiterated that he hopes to use the compact to cap gambling in
Florida, perhaps limiting Class III machines to Broward County.
Bush said he and lawyers for the state have meetings scheduled in the next few weeks with tribal leaders
and lawyers.
``I'm not holding my cards close,'' Bush said. ``My objective in a compact would be to restrict gambling.''
Bush said the tribes, his office and the Broward pari-mutuels have an incentive to keep legalized gambling
from expanding much more in South Florida.
``Maybe there is a convergence of agreement because people who have gambling don't want more
competition,'' Bush said. ``And I don't want more gambling because I hate it."
Representatives of the tribes and their gaming operations had no reaction to the governor's remarks
Thursday.
Slots deal faces tough road
There are still many hurdles ahead for the Seminole Tribe of Florida in its quest to offer Las Vegas-style
slot machines.
By Mary Ellen Klas
meklas@MiamiHerald.com
© 2006 MiamiHerald.com
Sunday, January 08, 2006
TALLAHASSEE - The Seminole Tribe of Florida has sued governors, petitioned presidents and waited
two decades to offer Las Vegas-style slot machines at its casinos. With the simple swipe of Gov. Jeb
Bush's pen last week, they now are guaranteed to get the higher-stakes games.
The question is: how soon?
The hurdles are high: The tribe must first enter into an agreement, or compact, with a governor who is
fiercely determined to limit gambling. Next, the Seminoles must get the compact approved by the U.S.
Department of the Interior, whose secretary works for the brother of the anti-gambling governor.
And, amid all this, fierce competition for the Seminoles' Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood is
only months away, when the newly signed law allows Broward's four parimutuels to bring in 6,000 slot
machines after June 4.
By all appearances, the overwhelming success of the tribe's Hard Rock casinos in Hollywood and Tampa
indicates they're not hurting for business. But on Friday, the Seminoles wasted no time sending a message
that they want an agreement with the governor soon.
''The governor's announcement that he is committed to achieving a quick and fair agreement offers new
hope that a compact can be achieved,'' Gary Bitner, spokesman for the Seminole Tribe, said in a
statement to The Miami Herald. ``The tribe has been trying since 1991 to negotiate a compact with the
state of Florida without success.''
But, he added: ''The tribe cannot wait indefinitely.'' The Seminoles will continue to pursue the alternative
track they have taken since 1999, when they petitioned federal authorities to allow the tribe to offer Class
III slot machines and other casino games such as blackjack, roulette, craps and keno, without a state
compact, he said.
BIG BUCKS
Class III machines -- better known as Las Vegas-style slots -- allow casinos to give higher payouts than
the tribes currently can with Class II.
As a result, the larger payouts are believed to attract more players and generate more money.
Bitner said the Interior Department has invited the tribe, its attorneys and attorneys for the state of
Florida 'to participate in an `informal conference' in the near future to discuss Class III 'procedures.' ''
Whatever the route taken to get Class III gambling, Bitner said, ``there is no question that the tribe has a
right to offer slot machines and card games, since those games are now expressly permitted under Florida
law.''
GAMING LAWS
Under federal law, the governor is obligated to negotiate a compact ''in good faith'' with the Indians to
spell out the rules that will apply to slot machine operations.
Before 1988, federal courts allowed tribes to operate gaming on their reservations free from state
regulation if the state's public policy was to regulate, rather than prohibit, those games. Congress enacted
the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in October 1988 and gave the states a role in regulating tribal
operations of Class III games, as long as the state permits Class III machines.
Bush began compact talks with the Seminoles three months after Broward County voters authorized slot
machines at parimutuels last March. But the negotiations were mired in uncertainty as both parties waited
for the Florida Legislature to decide how many machines it would permit and what tax rate it would charge
the Broward racetracks.
Last week, after signing the bill that regulates slot operations at Broward racetracks and its jai alai
fronton, Bush said he will resume compact talks with the Seminoles and begin talks with Miccosukee
tribal Chairman Billy Cypress by the end of the month.
''We will make a good faith effort to try to reach agreement,'' the governor said.
The negotiations won't be easy. The Seminoles sued the state of Florida in 1991 to force it to enter into
compact negotiations and lost.
LITTLE LEEWAY
Bush, who is zealous in his effort to limit gambling, has repeatedly said he will seek to allow the Seminoles
and Miccosukees to install the higher-stakes slot machines in their existing casinos -- but nowhere else.
''I'm not holding my cards close here, so to speak,'' Bush said. ``My object in a compact is to restrict
gambling and maybe there is a convergence of agreement. . . . People that have gambling right now might
not want more competition, and I don't want more gambling 'cause I hate it.''
In exchange for asking the tribes to agree to limits on gambling, Bush wants to offer the tribes the
exclusive right to operate slot machines in the state outside Broward and Miami-Dade counties, a promise
many in the parimutuel industry doubt he can deliver. Many racetrack owners outside Broward and Dade
have told legislators they are waiting for the governor to leave office, then they will petition lawmakers
and the new governor to allow them to put in slots at their struggling facilities.
Bush is expected to follow the example of other states and ask the tribes to follow state rules and share
their gambling revenue with the state in exchange for the exclusive operating rights.
''What it will get down to is how many [machines] and where and what it's going to cost,'' said Ken Adams,
a Nevada gaming consultant who has watched the developments in Florida.
But don't count on the Seminoles and Miccosukees to rush the state with checks, he said. When Native
American tribes in Oklahoma reached an agreement in that state last year on Class III games, the state
expected them to install up to 30,000 machines and hand over millions of dollars in revenue-sharing
checks, Adams said.
''The tribes put in only 2,000 games because they're making money off their existing machines,'' he said.
THE STAKES
Adams predicts that the Florida tribes will seek about 5,000 Class III slots at each location and resist any
revenue sharing that exceeds 10 to 15 percent. States that have proposed levels higher than that have had
them rejected as excessive by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs, he
said.
The Seminoles operate five casinos -- in Hollywood, Tampa, Okeechobee, Coconut Creek and Immokalee
-- and the Miccosukees operate one in western Miami-Dade.
'I couldn't guess what the tribe's strategy would be, but I would guess it would begin with sovereignty.
`This is our land. We can do what we want here.' They could argue that the state limiting it in an artificial
way doesn't make any sense,'' Adams said.
But others say there may be some appeal for the tribes to agree to accept an exclusive deal with Bush
now, as long as it includes a provision that allows them to come back if legislators or voters expand
gambling in the future.
The governor ''is in a very difficult position,'' Adams said. ``My guess is he's going to take a very slow
approach and try and stretch this out as long as he can.''