Broward School Board members slam gambling industry on slots proposal
By Bill Hirschman
Education Writer
Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
February 16, 2005

Broward School Board members on Tuesday accused gambling industry lobbyists of misleading voters to win support for slot machines on March 8.

School Board Chairwoman Stephanie Kraft said pro-slots fliers were false that promised $500 million statewide in annual revenue from the devices to ease crowding in Florida schools.

Because legislators have not decided how many slot machines a track can have, or how many hours they can operate, "that $500 million is speculative. You know that's a lie," she said.

Lobbyists Jim Horne and Dan Adkins attended Tuesday's board meeting to reassure school officials that the industry would fight to ensure that Broward receives a significant portion of gambling revenues.

Horne, the state's former education commissioner, said, "We pledge that we are working hard to ensure that you will get your fair share."

But Kraft, Beverly Gallagher and Bob Parks were skeptical.

"This whole thing is based on trust. But actions speak louder than words," Kraft said.

In November, Floridians approved a constitutional amendment that allows Broward and Miami-Dade residents to vote on whether to allow slot machines at racetracks and jai-alai frontons in those counties. The law pledges to put a portion of the proceeds in a trust fund to benefit education. But all the details must be worked out in a legislative session that opens the same day as the March vote.

Horne pointed to a bill already filed by Sen. Steve Geller, D-Hallandale Beach, and another being drafted by Rep. Susan Goldstein, R-Sunrise, that give Broward and Miami-Dade $75 per pupil above what already is received for local schools.

But Kraft and Gallagher peppered Horne with other proposed bills, including one to repeal the amendment and another by Sen. Skip Campbell, D-Tamarac, that would invest all the money in the new universal pre-kindergarten program.

"I appreciate Sen. Geller's bill, but there are a lot of competing bills out there," Kraft said.

The board's trust in the Legislature and the governor is shaky, at best, said Gallagher and Parks.

"All these promises. We were promised the lottery money, we were promised pre-K, we were promised class size reduction," Parks said.

The most disturbing reversal came last year, they said, when legislators cut most of the extra money that Broward and Miami-Dade schools were to receive to cover the higher cost of living in South Florida compared to the rest of the state.

The board is miffed because the gambling industry did not seek the School Board's support until after it had cut deals giving money to the county commissions and city councils where the slot machines would be located.

Then, when directly asked for a similar deal, Adkins refused. Horne said before the meeting Tuesday that the industry can't make such a deal because school funding comes from Tallahassee, even though he acknowledged that a growing industry would bring in more families and students and worsen school crowding.