{"id":17599,"date":"2014-02-03T05:30:45","date_gmt":"2014-02-03T05:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=17599"},"modified":"2021-11-30T10:50:44","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30T18:50:44","slug":"2014-florida-legislative-session-shying-away-from-gambling-expansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/2014-florida-legislative-session-shying-away-from-gambling-expansion\/","title":{"rendered":"2014 Florida Legislative Session Shying Away from Gambling Expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Florida
Although it looked hopeful last year, the 2014 Florida legislative session now seems to be shying away from any focus on gambling.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over the last year, there\u2019s been plenty of talk about changing the gambling laws that dictate how gaming is run in Florida. There have been calls to expand the state\u2019s casino offerings, along with plenty of support for reforming the current regulations to remove loopholes and clarify what exactly is legal for operators to offer. But despite all of the important issues on the table – and even though the year is in its incipiency – it appears that the odds of any gambling laws passing in Florida in 2014 are getting longer by the day.<\/p>\n

Republican Retreat<\/h2>\n

That news comes after Republican legislative leaders had pledged to make the issue a priority late last year. Gambling was on a list of legislative priorities that lawmakers presented to reporters before the present session began, but who now say that it\u2019s unlikely anything will happen before some big steps take place.<\/p>\n

House Speaker Will Weatherford said that his chamber would not act without any legislation coming in concert with a constitutional amendment that would allow voters to weigh in on any possible gambling expansion.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless we can do that, I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll see us taking up gaming in the House,\u201d the Speaker said. For Weatherford, that statement covered \u201canything new,\u201d presumably including regulatory changes, along with the addition of new casinos.<\/p>\n

Lawsuits Add to Delays<\/h2>\n

The prospect of legislation may have been hampered by the nearly two dozen lawsuits currently facing the state after studies and hearings were held to review the state\u2019s gaming laws.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Those lawsuits cover a variety of issues, including regulations on horse and dog racing \u2013 where battles over how races are conducted and whether tracks can host slots and other casino games have been raging for some time now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s regulations. There\u2019s dogs. There\u2019s integrated resorts. There\u2019s taxes. There\u2019s slots. There\u2019s the compact. There\u2019s decoupling. There\u2019s injury reporting. If you take all those pieces of the puzzle, they don\u2019t snap together that easily,\u201d said Senate Gaming Committee Chairman Garrett Richter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That compact could eventually prove to be the largest issue on the table. Florida\u2019s compact with the Seminole Tribe expires in 2015, and that deadline will eventually make gaming come up on the legislative agenda whether lawmakers are ready for it or not. At the moment, the compact allows the Seminole Tribe to have exclusive rights to banked card games like blackjack throughout the state in exchange for $1 billion in payments from the tribe over the course of five years. Renewing or proposing changes to that compact will be a contentious issue, especially if Florida thinks it can make more by removing the exclusivity and allowing non-Indian casino developers to build in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cGaming is an issue that is forced to the state either this year or next year by the fact that the Seminole compact is up for some renegotiation and when you do that you sort of touch the dominos that make everything else affected,\u201d said Senate President Don Gaetz. \u201cI don\u2019t think that expansion of gaming or gaming legislation would be a Will Weatherford or a Don Gaetz priority.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not something we necessarily want to be involved in,\u201d Gaetz said, \u201cbut it\u2019s something that circumstances probably require either us or our successors to do something about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the last year, there\u2019s been plenty of talk about changing the gambling laws that dictate how gaming is run in Florida. There have been calls to expand the state\u2019s casino offerings, along with plenty of support for reforming the current regulations to remove loopholes and clarify what exactly is legal for operators to offer. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":17612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n2014 Florida Legislative Session Shying Away from Gambling Expansion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Although it looked promising last year, the 2014 Florida legislative session seems to be focusing less on gambling expansion than ever.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2014 Florida Legislative Session Shying Away from Gambling Expansion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Although it looked promising last year, the 2014 Florida legislative session seems to be focusing less on gambling expansion than ever.\" \/>\n<meta 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