TALLAHASSEE - When the state Legislature failed to come up with regulations for slot machines in Broward County parimutuels, it practically guaranteed that the issue would end up in court.
But legal scholars say going to court is no guarantee that the spinning reels will arrive in Broward anytime soon.
Lawyers for Dania Jai-Alai, Gulfstream Park, Hollywood Greyhound Track and Pompano Park harness track are expected to file suit in Broward County this week, claiming that the Legislature's inaction during the lawmaking session that ended May 6 robs them of their constitutional right to start installing slot machines at their gaming halls.
In November, voters statewide approved a constitutional amendment allowing Miami-Dade and Broward voters to decide whether they wanted slot machines at racetracks and jai-alai frontons. In March, Broward voters approved slots, while Miam-Dade voters turned them down. The November amendment tells the Legislature to come up with slots regulations by July 1.
So what happens if lawmakers fail to abide by the deadline that voters enshrined in the state Constitution?
Constitutional experts say there is little precedent in Florida for courts to tell lawmakers or the governor how to enforce the amendment -- even if the Legislature appears to violate the spirit of the law.
''Basically, if the governor is not persuaded [to support the amendment] then he prevails upon the Legislature to either take no action or take minimal action,'' said attorney Thom Rumberger, a veteran of other constitutional battles and a prominent Republican. 'In this case, there is absolute bias against gambling and I'm sure the governor had his influence on it. Conservative right wingers said, `To hell with it, don't act.' ''
Lawyers who specialize in constitutional issues say this is not the first time legislators have delayed or revised the implementation of a constitutional amendment they dislike.
Over the past few years, lawmakers have
Delayed implementation of a high-speed train in Central Florida long enough to persuade voters to repeal it.
Revised the intent of an amendment that created a Board of Governors for state universities.
Ignored an amendment requiring sugar growers to clean up the Everglades.
And the Legislature continues to delay full implementation of the 2002 class-size amendment, said Dexter Douglass, a veteran constitutional lawyer in Tallahassee who chaired the 1998 Constitutional Revision Commission.
''The Legislature Thumbed their nose at the Constitution, which is not unknown to this group,'' he said. ``The only remedy I can see is for [the parimutuels] to go to court and contend, in light of the default on the part of the Legislature, that the court should intercede and direct how it should be implemented.''
Slots supporters thought they had avoided this scenario when they carved into the Constitution the July 1 deadline for lawmakers to enact the law, impose a tax and steer the money into education programs. The idea was to prevent legislators from delaying the amendment if voters approved it.
Trouble is, it didn't work. Legislators adjourned their 60-day session without writing any rules that would regulate the slot machines at Broward parimutuels, and, for the moment, they have no plans to return to Tallahassee before July 1.
The coalition of parimutuels expects to file a lawsuit this week asking a judge to clarify what they must do. The battle is likely to be fierce.
Gov. Jeb Bush, a slots opponent, has authorized the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which licenses gambling operators, to issue an order directing whether the industry may go ahead without legislative action.
Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, a Fort Lauderdale Republican, asked for the ruling, arguing that the state should revoke the license of any parimutuel that attempts to install slot machines before lawmakers return to the Capitol to write the rules. She also wants to halt any attempt by the Broward County Commission to step into the breach and regulate the slot-machine industry until the state assumes that role.
Meanwhile, the governor's office last week hired two constitutional scholars to handle the legal issues: former Florida Supreme Court Justice Major Harding and former Deputy Attorney General Richard Doran.
The two men are researching the issues, but the governor is not willing to talk about bringing legislators back to Tallahassee for a special session to take it up, Bush spokesman Russell Schweiss said.
''At this point, there is no issue that would cause us to call a special session,'' he said. He added that any hope of a special session to help the Florida Marlins get a tax break to help the team build a new stadium is also ``out in left field.''
Legal scholars say it is unlikely a court will order the Legislature back into session either.
'The court may say, `We can't do anything. The Legislature didn't do its duty so vote them out of office,' '' Douglass said.
The situation is reminiscent of the 1996 ''polluter pays'' amendment, which was designed to force the sugar industry to pay to help clean up the Everglades, said Rumberger, chairman of the Everglades Trust, which promoted the amendment.
Voters approved it and supporters thought it would take effect immediately, but the Florida Legislature decided instead to tax South Florida homeowners to pay for the cleanup.
Environmentalists took the state to court. The lawsuit went all the way to the Florida Supreme Court, and at each level courts decided that it was up to the Legislature to decide who pays for the cleanup.
''The Legislature refused to acknowledge the amendment and did whatever it wanted to do,'' Rumberger said. ``It's a very dismal prospect.''
Jon Mills, dean emeritus and professor at the University of Florida's Levin School of Law, said that while the slots amendment appears to require the Legislature to act, ``we all know in a very real sense you can't necessarily compel legislative action.''
He thinks it's going to be difficult for the parimutuels to persuade a court to write slots guidelines ``because you've got to create a tax scheme and a spending scheme, and that's not necessarily easy.''
Mills, a former House speaker, said there is some precedent for the courts to intervene when a judge has been convinced that the Legislature has failed in its duty. In the 1980s, a federal court appointed a special monitor to oversee the Florida corrections systems, ordering it to improve prisons and pay for more prison beds.
''In some times, some places, courts have ordered legislatures to act, but not frequently,'' he said.