TALLAHASSEE — The schism between Republicans in the House and Senate over gambling appears to
be deepening as time runs out before the end of the legislative session next week.
Gambling-leery House members on Wednesday threw another obstacle into the mix by adding laptop
computers for seventh-graders statewide into their proposal implementing the slot-machine ballot
measure. It was approved by Broward County voters last month.
Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, said the chances of a bill implementing the slot machine
referendum were "fifty-fifty."
"We're way apart," Lee said late Wednesday. "There's a huge philosophical divide in this legislature
about the expansion of gambling in Florida. Until we bridge that divide, we are unlikely to be able to
implement legislation for this constitutional amendment."
He went on to say that if a bill isn't passed this year, he did not see any resolution until Gov. Jeb Bush
leaves office.
"I would see nothing happening until there's a new governor — until there's either legislation or another
governor where they (the parimutuels) think they might be able to get something passed that's more
comprehensive," Lee said.
And that, he said, would leave parimutuels in a quandary: They might be loath to invest millions of dollars
in slots without knowing what the legislature would do in the future. Lee called that a "risk for the
industry" and "ill-advised."
The Senate bill (SB 1174) is more industry-friendly than the House's, with lower tax rates, unlimited
numbers of slot machines, lower payouts for gamblers and less stringent oversight. It includes the Class
III, Las Vegas-style, slot machines the industry wants — all adding up to more money for the owners of
the four parimutuel sites in Broward County.
The House proposal (HB 1901) includes a flat tax rate of 55 percent and limits the slots to Class II, or the
video bingo-style machines already in use at tribal casinos.
House members fear that allowing the racetracks and jai-alai fronton in Broward to use Class III machines
will allow the Indian tribes to open similar casinos elsewhere; under federal law, the tribes may operate
whatever type of gambling is approved anywhere in the state on all of their sovereign lands.
House Speaker Allen Bense, R-Panama City, said Wednesday he is "not very wild about" allowing Class
III slots.
Lee, the Senate president, said, "I think it was very clear that we weren't talking about bingo-based
machines. We were talking about slot machines."
TALLAHASSEE (AP) — Tax money collected from slot machines in Broward County should be used to
buy laptop computers for every seventhgrader in public school, the state House decided Wednesday.
But a companion Senate bill would use the money for school construction and maintenance. And in the
House, one supporter of the laptop idea said he didn’t think the provision would survive.
Any tax revenue collected from slots is earmarked for schools around the state. That was a part of the
proposed constitutional amendment that voters approved in November to allow slot machines in seven
race tracks and jai-alai frontons in Broward and Miami-Dade counties with local approval.
Only voters in Broward County, with two horse tracks, a dog track and a jai-alai fronton, decided to
allow the machines. State lawmakers have been struggling to figure out how to regulate and tax them.
One of the top issues is whether to let the pari-mutuels install full-fledged slots — the kind played in Las
Vegas and Atlantic City — or to limit them to the electronic bingo machines now found in Indian casinos
around Florida. Another issue has been the level of taxation.
The House bill does not allow the traditional slot machines and has a tax rate of 55 percent.
The Senate bill allows the Las Vegas-style slots and has a tax rate ranging from 30 to 35 percent
depending on how much money the pari-mutuels collect from the machines.
Gov. Jeb Bush, a gambling opponent, prefers the ban on full-fledged slots. But the governor said
Wednesday he wasn’t making any veto threats against a bill with traditional slots. “I’m keeping my
options open,” Bush said, adding he hoped the House and Senate would be able to reach agreement on
legislation.
The Senate measure (CSSB 1174) has not yet gone to the full Senate. The House considered several
amendments to its bill Wednesday, moving the legislation (CS-HB 1901) into position for a vote next week.
Until Wednesday, the House legislation hadn’t specified how the slot taxes should be spent.
Rep. Frank Attkisson, who has overseen the issue in the House, sponsored the laptop amendment. He
said the first priority of slots revenue would be to provide every seventhgrader with a laptop, with the
promise of getting to keep it if they pass the 10th grade Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test four
years later.
“It will change our middle school program,” said Attkisson, R-Attkisson.
AP Rep. Dan Gelber (center), D-Miami Beach, introduces an amendment to the slot machine bill as Rep.
Jack Seiler (left), D-Pompano Beach, and Rep. Ron Greenstein, D-Coconut Creek, show their feelings on
the amendment Wednesday during the House sessison in Tallahassee. The amendment failed.
Horse Industry Losing In Gambling Gambit
Lawmaker says horse racers were "stabbed in the back" by lobbyists.
By Joe Follick
Ledger Tallahassee Bureau
Thursday, April 28, 2005
TALLAHASSEE -- In what one lawmaker has dubbed the "mad dash for cash" generated by new
gambling operations in Broward County, one loser may be the horse industry.
Horse breeders had asked that some of the estimated $200 million in tax revenue that will come from
newly legalized slot machines go toward higher purses in Florida horse races. They claim the higher purses
will stimulate the industry that has strong roots in Marion County.
But so far, the horse breeders have not been cut a piece of the pie, victim to what supporters say is a
lobbying melee.
Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, said horse breeders were "just flat outnumbered" by lobbyists for casinos
and dog tracks.
"They got stabbed in the back," Baxley said. "I've always had a concern that once this thing all came
down,they were going to get abandoned by the casino interests. I tried to warn them."
In November, Florida voters narrowly amended the constitution to allow Broward and Miami-Dade
counties to hold referendums on legalizing gambling at existing race tracks and jai-alai frontons. To woo
voters, pari-mutuel operators promised to devote at least 30 percent of their revenue to public schools
around the state.
Broward County voters approved the measure earlier this year; Miami-Dade did not. The anti-gambling
House and more amenable Senate have very different bills.
The House would tax the slot machines at 55 percent and limit them to "bingo style" machines. The
Senate has an escalating tax rate that tops out at 35 percent and allows "Vegas style" slots.
Whether the two chambers can compromise by the May 6 end of this year's legislative session is in doubt.
Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, gave it a "less than 50-50" chance of passage. But gambling
interests showed their hand Wednesday by winning virtually every proposed change to the House's
gambling proposal. A series of amendments lowered the required "payout" that casinos would give to
bettors, eliminated the requirement for periodic referendums to continue operating and fended off
additional taxes to benefit local schools and communities.
Fervent gambling foe Rep. Randy Johnson, R-Celebration, said lawmakers should force casinos to pay out
at least 93 percent of their take as winnings.
"If (people are) stupid enough to go into these places, at least there should be rules to protect them,"
Johnson said.
Marion County lawmakers withdrew an amendment that would have required any tracks seeking a license
to install slot machines to first allow a mediator to set a rate for money to go to winnings at horse tracks.
Rep. Joe Pickens, R-Palatka, said there just wasn't enough support for the plan. He and Baxley said
they've largely given up hope for securing slot machines money for horse race winnings this year.
But Sen. Rod Smith, D-Alachua, said he's hopeful that senators will consider something soon to boost
purses.
The sponsor of the House Bill 1901, Rep. Frank Attkisson, R-Kissimmee, supported using some slots
revenue for the equine industry. But in-fighting among the various special interests doomed the effort.
"Bottom line is, it's greedy lobbyists," he said.