Florida senator Garrett Richter has revealed more details on how the state will study the gambling industry. The Senate Gaming Committee chairman told the first meeting of a panel on gaming in the state that getting the right information before making decisions could be the make or break where gaming is concerned. The Florida Current quoted Richter as stating that a third party will be contracted to a conduct a study of all gambling that goes on in the state and report back. Any firms wanting to take on the contract have three weeks to make an application.
The panel themselves heard information from the Department of Lottery, committee staff members talking about Florida’s compact with the Seminole Tribe, state economists, and regulators. Next week’s hearing will see presentations from the gaming industry itself and it’s all part of a long process that will eventually see new regulations drawn up. The process is getting going and that in itself is a good thing. We’re unlikely to see any concrete movement in terms of regulations until 2014 though.
Illinois governor Pat Quinn has reiterated his opposition to a gaming bill being proposed by one of his opponents that predated a bill that he vetoed last year. Senate president John Cullerton sent the 2011 expansion bill to Quinn – something the governor already said that he would veto back in Oct. 2011, if it were ever sent to him. Quinn’s spokesperson Brooke Anderson confirmed this would be the case and now everyone waits to see what the 2013 expansion bill contains before Quinn once again vetoes it.
