While there was hope that Florida’s House and Senate would break a stalemate involving differing views on gambling expansion in the state, everything seemed to collapse on Thursday. Florida House and Senate negotiators declared just before the weekend, that they had reached an impasse and there was no hope of reaching an agreement before the end of the month when the Legislature ended its 60 day session.
The deal would have seen the construction of at least one new casino in Miami, and could have seen the Seminole Tribe of Florida offering craps and roulette at seven of its casinos. Slot machines may also have been allowed in eight more Florida counties.
The negotiators said that there were many issues that were simply not able to be resolved, especially with the annual Legislature closing date hanging over their heads.
Senator Bill Galvano was to the point when he declared: “It’s dead”.
“We just couldn’t get it across the finish line,” added State Rep. Jose Felix Diaz of Miami.
The main issue, it seems, is that there was simply no way of reaching an agreement regarding the eight counties across Florida where voters approved slot machines at horse and dog racing tracks. While the House was keen to ban pari-mutuels from adding slot machines in Brevard, Palm Beach, Duval, Lee, St. Lucie, Washington and Gadsden, the Senate insisted that these counties had the right to vote on the issue. The Senate said that counties should respect the will of the voters.
According to State Senate President, Joe Negron, the states voted for slots and therefore they should receive them.
“A gaming bill has to respect their decision to allow more gaming opportunity,” he said.
The Senate proposal suggested that horse and dog racing tracks, who are experiencing a decline in business, stop offering racing and operate instead slot casinos on their premises.
The House has stated that it was open to entering into negotiations regarding a casino in Miami. However, voters in Miami-Dade would have to approve the move.
The end of negotiations essentially means that the efforts to pass gambling legislation this year are dead for the 2017 legislative session. Reporters were told that lawmakers made a “great effort” to have the bill passed.
Lobbyist Nick Iarossi, representing parti-mutuel facilities in two counties said: “We thought this was going to be the year, as opposed to the other years where we’ve come close.”
