Seminole casino deal too flawed to approve
An Editorial
© 2009 Ft. Myers-news press
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The revamped Seminole gambling pact signed by Gov. Charlie Crist is fatally flawed.
The Legislature should not approve the agreement in its present form.
Under the agreement, the tribe gets to continue operating blackjack and lucrative Las Vegas-style slot machines at its casinos in Immokalee, Hollywood and Tampa, and has the option of offering them at its four other casinos. That's fine.
But the Seminoles would have the exclusive right to run blackjack and slots anywhere in the state outside Broward and Miami-Dade counties, where voters approved them after getting the right to do so in a constitutional amendment.
The struggling racetrack industry is justifiably angry over this semi-monopoly.
The agreement throws pari-mutuel sites such as dog and horse tracks and jai alai frontons a couple of bones: lower taxes in some cases and the right to expand poker operations. But the pari-mutuels are frozen out of the better casino business that might help save an industry with deep roots in Florida and 25,000 employees, including those at the Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track and Poker Room.
The pari-mutuels have clout in the Legislature, and spend a lot more money than the Seminoles lobbying for their interests. Lawmakers are rightly already considering how much of this pact has to change.
They should also consider that if casino gambling is going to expand this much in Florida, why not open it much wider than Indian reservations and racetracks?
Any county whose voters wish to approve casino gambling should be allowed to do so.
Florida is saturated with legal gaming and has been for years. The state's numerous racetracks have been here for decades, the state lottery is 21 years old and casino cruises are thriving. Casino gambling is spreading across the country, and Florida must not miss out. It's a tourist draw and a form of economic development which could benefit the state more than the Seminole payments.
Here's another flaw in the agreement:
It would transfer monitoring of Seminole casinos from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which has experience in regulating casino-type activities, to the Department of Revenue, which doesn't. That's not in the state's best interest.
Casinos need close regulation. A casino scandal in Florida could taint the industry, as well as harm customers.
Admittedly, it's risky to delay a final agreement much longer. The tribe could turn to the federal government and cement its expanded offerings under federal treaty. That could cut the state out of its payoff under Crist's pact: at least $150 million a year for 20 years, plus a cut of the profit as revenues grow. The governor's office predicts the state cut could amount to $500 million annually.
But if the Legislature wants to expand casino gambling, it should do so fairly and under strict regulatory supervision, neither of which is assured under this pact.
Let our leaders in Tallahassee know how you feel on this issue.
State should OK gambling deal
An Editorial
© 2009 The Tampa Tribune
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
It would be nice if state lawmakers could reject Gov. Charlie Crist's proposed casino gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe and banish gambling in the state altogether.
But that is not going to happen.
Elected leaders like gambling revenues flowing into state coffers and have been eager to hawk the predatory pastime, along with its message that people can get something for nothing.
After all, the more people can be enticed into throwing dollars away on the lottery and highly taxed parimutuels, the less lawmakers have to worry about raising revenue or cutting services.
Lawmakers, alas, are more likely to contest the agreement because it confines the additional gambling to the tribe's casinos and doesn't offer some of the action to the parimutuels.
But the state's authority over the Seminole Tribe is limited. There is no reason for the state to expand gambling elsewhere.
The state already has plenty with the lottery, dog tracks, card rooms and gambling boats. The Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling reports a 46 percent increase in problem gambling in the last three years.
Given the state's modest control over the Seminoles, Crist's agreement probably represents the best deal Florida is going to get.
The arrangement would assure the state at least $6.8 billion from casino receipts over the next 20 years. The amount could be higher, based on a percentage of the casinos' profits.
In exchange, the tribe will be able to operate blackjack and other card games at all seven of its casinos, including the one in Tampa. It also would be the exclusive operator of slot machines in the state, except in Miami-Dade and Broward, where voters passed a referendum in 2004 to allow slots at parimutuels. It was that move that caused the Seminoles to seek additional offerings.
The agreement represents an improvement over the compact Crist negotiated with the Seminoles in 2007, but which the state Supreme Court voided because he did not obtain the Legislature's approval.
The governor hopes to get lawmakers' approval for this deal in a special session, probably in October or November.
Under the earlier agreement, the Seminoles would have guaranteed only $100 million a year, not the $150 million promised now.
Lawmakers should appreciate the better terms.
Any expansion of gambling in Florida is undesirable, but Florida has no good cards in this showdown.
Federal officials had notified the state that they were going to allow expanded Seminole gaming - with no requirement to share revenue with the state - in 2007. And even after the high court struck down Crist's compact, the tribe continues to offer the disputed games. The feds have done nothing.
Parimutuels around the state are going to fight to get additional games, but Florida should restrict gambling - and the damage it does to families, the economy and the state's family-oriented image - to the Seminole facilities.