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Gambling's Unofficial Moratorium in the Florida Legislature

A proposal to bring several mega casinos to South Florida was one of the most hotly debated topics during the last legislative session. But odds are good that we won’t hear anything about gambling during the session that begins in March. There is now an unofficial moratorium on gaming proposals.

When it looked like a proposed gambling bill was about to be defeated by a House committee, the bill’s sponsor postponed the discussion and hoped to bring it back for the next session.It’s likely that gaming legislation will be filed, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be heard. 

Senate President Don Gaetz wants to take a break from the topic.

“We’ve got too much gaming going on, it’s unregulated in some cases and over regulated in other cases, and there are all sorts of inequities”, said Gaetz.

Gaetz is generally opposed to gambling. But he is creating a Senate committee to review all forms of gaming in Florida. He also wants input from the public. He says it may take 2 or 3 years for the Senate to take a comprehensive look.

“We need to have a thoughtful approach to this”, Gaetz said. “We need to make sure that we know what we’re doing before we either regulate or deregulate any aspect of gaming and certainly before anything is expanded.”

House and Senate leaders want to take gambling off the table for now because each chamber’s proposals were so far apart during the last session. One sticking point was what to do about internet cafes, also known as strip mall casinos. The Senate considered ways to regulate them, while the House wanted to ban them completely.

Tallahassee attorney Marc Dunbar represents clients who want to bring more gambling to Florida.

“I’ve pretty much told them that you’re going to see a one year moratorium on anything related to gambling and the best thing to do is take advantage of that time to work with the legislators as they go on basically what’s going to be a listening tour” said Dunbar.

Dunbar wants lawmakers to come up with one policy that covers all forms of gaming, from dog tracks to the Lottery.

Dunbar  said, “The legislators and the Governor’s Office can’t answer these basic questions: how much gaming do we have, where is the gaming located, what is the impact on our citizenry of the current gaming that we have?”

That’s why state leaders want a break. They plan to get those answers before trying to make any new laws. Dunbar says the gambling industry could bring many more jobs to Florida.

But Carol Dover says mega casinos would pull workers away from other businesses. She lobbies on behalf of restaurants and hotels. 

“We have trouble filling our jobs”, said Dover. “I have hotels right now in South Florida that have upwards of 20 and 30 housekeeping positions vacant that they cannot fill.”

Dover says mega resorts would ultimately force smaller surrounding businesses to shut down. She’s glad lawmakers are taking a break from the gambling debate.

“I think it’s a very smart move”, said Dover. “You have to remember that anything that the Legislature does as it relates to gambling in our state could change the face of this state for decades to come.” 

The Seminole compact also has to be considered. That’s the state’s agreement with the Native American tribe that is already allowed to operate large casinos. More casino gambling would affect that greement.

When the compact comes up for renewal in a few years, Sen. Gaetz will be a key negotiator.

Gaetz said, “It takes a lot of work to sit down with all the players who are at the table as well as making sure that you keep a weather eye on the federal government to come up with a compact that’s fair.”

As far as expansion of gambling, his voting record is pretty clear. Gaetz has always voted against it.

So, Malaysian casino company Genting is looking for a way around the Legislature. Last year, Genting bought the Miami Herald building and launched an effort to bring destination casino resorts to South Florida. The company is funding a political action committee, trying to drum up voter support.

With enough petition signatures, Genting could get a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot in 2014. If that happens, voters – not lawmakers - would decide whether to approve mega casinos.