From: FGA
President Phil Ruotolo
FGA President
Phil Ruotolo went to Tallahassee this week to take part in meetings with key
legislators responsible for pari-mutuel legislation. Phil and members of your
lobbying team also met with Senate President Ken Pruitt and Lt. Gov. Jeff
Kottkamp.
We received
encouraging news Tuesday from our meeting with President Pruitt, who said that
now, more than ever, the "stars, moons and planets are aligned" for
the passage of legislation that would create video lottery terminals. As you
know, Sen. Steve Geller and others before him have filed this legislation over
the past several years.
President Pruitt
obviously couldn’t make any promises about VLT legislation but noted that the
state needs new revenue sources.
You may have
heard that state revenues are expected to fall short by nearly $1 billion next
year, due in part to a slowdown in the real estate market. This puts House and
Senate budget writers in the position of having to cut programs or find other
sources of revenue. This means that the VLT legislation will be part of the
budget discussions over the next few weeks.
Please be assured
that your lobbying team is watching this legislation very carefully for
opportunities to secure enhanced purses for greyhound kennel operators.
President Pruitt said he understands the purse equity issues facing greyhound
kennel operators and is sympathetic.
Sen. Geller
explained to us that race tracks are concerned about their financial viability
with VLTs and slot machines. He is probably the most well versed legislator on
pari-mutuel issues and understands the dynamics between track owners and kennel
operators. We will continue to discuss with him the equitable treatment of
greyhound kennel operators.
In our meeting
with Rep. Ron Reagan, head of the Jobs and Entrepreneurship Council, The
Council that handles all pari-mutuel legislation, Phil explained that the
greyhound industry has more pari-mutuel performances than others and
contributes more state taxes. We need financial relief in order to keep kennels
in Florida and encourage the industry to thrive.
Jim Abernathy and
Tim Cahill visited with Rep Regan in his District office 2 weeks ago as part of
their grass roots legistive visits.
In other House
this week, Rep Carlos Lopez-Contera R-Miami Chairman
of the Business Regulation Committee held a meeting of all pari-mutuel
Lobbyists this week. He discussed the possibility of expanding VLT’s to all Tracks. The Chairman asked all the
pari-mutuels to work together to work out their differences on purses by using
the Horses contract mediation as a starting point.
President Ruotolol also visited with Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp to
emphasis how important the leadership from the Administration would be in
bringing VLT’s to Florida Greyhound Tracks.
Bill
updates:
· HB 591 by Rep.
Joe Gibbons D-Hallandale dealing with card rooms/poker & Dominions.
Authorizes card rooms operators to host high-steaks
poker tournaments and high stakes dominoes tournaments. Was
approved by the House Business Regulation Committee this week by a 6 to 2 vote. (this Bill does not effect
live racing days at this time but it could be a vehicle for amendments as the
Bill moves along) The Senate version of the bill (SB 216) by Sen. Geller was
approved in a 7-2 vote by the Senate Regulated Industries Committee.
· HB 1419 calls
for purse accounts to include funds for pari-mutuel wagering, cardrooms, slot machines and any other form of gaming.
Horse owners would get a 7 percent share. This bill has not been scheduled for
its first committee meeting in the House; committees shut down next week.
· Sen. Geller’s
bill (SB 160) that would designate the governor as the lead negotiator on
tribal-state compacts cleared the Senate Regulated Industries Committee in a
unanimous vote. The House bill (HB 209 by Waldman) was unanimously approved in
its first committee hearing on Wednesday.
Other
developments
President
Ruotolo and members of your lobbying team attended the Senate Regulated
Industries committee, where Dave Roberts, Director of the Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, reviewed plans to regulate slot machines.
Currently, there is a 50% tax rate on slot machine revenues, with each facility
allowed a maximum of 1,500 machines operating a maximum of 16 hours per day,
365 days a year. The pay-out percentage is at least 85%.
Scott Friedman of
the Florida Department of Law Enforcement also gave a presentation about the
gaming enforcement side of slot machines. On Friday and Saturday, members of
the Senate Regulated Industries Committee plan to visit the Seminole Hard Rock
Casino and the Broward County tracks that have slot machines to learn more about internal
surveillance and security issues.
Report given by FGA Lobbying Team: Jack Cory, Lena Juarez
and Alisa Snow
