Broward, Miami-Dade voters flying blind with slot machine referendum

By Linda Kleindienst
Tallahassee Bureau Chief
Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
February 9, 2005

TALLAHASSEE · When Broward and Miami-Dade voters go to the polls next month to decide whether they want Las Vegas-style slot machines, they will have no idea what they are actually getting for their vote.

And the state Legislature is in no rush to tell them.

The two counties go to the polls on March 8, the opening day of the Legislature's annual 60-day session. But state legislators said Tuesday they are waiting to see the outcome of the vote before they begin fine-tuning any details of how the slots will work.

"We're going to begin taking testimony in two weeks. By then we'll be close to March 8, and we'll see how that goes," said Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, chairman of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee.

If voters approve putting slots alongside betting windows at seven existing pari-mutuel sites in Broward and Miami-Dade, legislators will have to decide the number and kinds of slot machines allowed, the hours and days of operation and the details of regulation. Those would include how high a tax the state plans to put on them and whether there should be guaranteed payouts to players.

The Legislature must also decide how much money will go to the state's public schools as required by the constitutional amendment and how it will be doled out.

"There are a hundred unknowns," said Rep. Randy Johnson, R-Celebration, chairman of the Orlando-based No Casinos. "We're doing this backwards. They don't even know what slot machines are because we haven't defined them yet."

In the House, Business Regulation Chairman Frank Attkisson, R-Kissimmee, has already conducted two hearings on the issue to take testimony from various interest groups that include pari-mutuels -- the horse and dog tracks and jai-alai frontons -- race horse and greyhound breeders, opponents such as No Casinos, and animal rights groups and state economists. But he doesn't expect any legislation to surface from the committee until a few weeks into the session.

He concedes that he and others on the committee are trying to get a handle on the issue. Among their unanswered questions: How will slots in South Florida affect important tourism destinations in other areas of the state, including Disney World.

"We've got an issue that probably needs two years of vetting. We're all learning," Attkisson said on Tuesday. "If there was ever a way not to do public policy, I'm learning it. But my objective is to get out a bill -- or we'll be having a judge write it for us."

Two Broward legislators, Rep. Ron Greenstein, D-Coconut Creek, and Sen. Steve Geller, D-Hallandale Beach, are filing legislation that would set a 30 percent tax rate on the slots.

Greenstein said he would also like to force the pari-mutuels to sell lottery tickets alongside the slot machines, which would prevent a significant drop in state lottery sales, and wants to guarantee that funds are set aside to treat problem gamblers.

But some anti-gambling legislators are eyeing tax rates as high as 50 percent.

Johnson, who thinks Florida voters should be offered a chance to repeal the slots constitutional amendment they passed last fall, has even suggested the state own the slot machines to prevent infiltration by organized crime.

As legislators begin their deliberation of what restrictions to put on slot machines, proponents are asking them to be moderate.

Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach is hoping to operate slot machines year-round, even though thoroughbreds race there only 3 1/2 months a year.

Gulfstream is spending $180 million for a new track and grandstand and plans to spend up to $300 million to accommodate the slot machines. The slots, park owners contend, will provide money for bigger winner's purses that will, in turn, attract more and better horses to the track.

"We've been on a slide over the last five years because of the purses offered by other tracks, third- and fourth-tier tracks that are offering bigger purses because of slots," said Marc Dunbar, Gulfstream's lead Tallahassee lobbyist on the issue. "If you tie slots to live racing, your two thoroughbred tracks [Calder Race Course and Gulfstream] will go to one. We won't be able to compete with unregulated tribal casinos."

Slots proponents argue against over-restrictive regulations, pointing out that Florida is losing millions in tax revenues because 2 million of its residents gamble in other venues such as Biloxi, the Bahamas and Las Vegas.

"Florida ranks 47th in the nation in education funding and seventh in out-of-state gambling business. People are leaving Florida to spend discretionary gambling dollars. Let's turn that around," said Dan Adkins, the Hollywood Greyhound Track general manager who spearheaded the constitutional amendment drive.

"There is a difference between regulation and limitations that handcuff the industry," warned former state Education Commissioner Jim Horne, the leading spokesman for slots proponents during the fall amendment drive and now for the local elections. "You've got to strike a balance that generates revenue for the state but also leaves something for the industry."

Legislative economists predict the state could raise between $250 million and $600 million from slots if both local referendums are approved. That would help offset a projected loss of $40 million to $55 million to the state lottery.

But the bottom line will depend on the details that legislators hammer out in the next few months.

"The more [regulation] we do, the less money will come into the state," said Amy Baker, a legislative economist. "It depends on what your ultimate goal is. Is your goal to optimize the tax, or to regulate the industry?"