Florida 
Representative and House Majority Leader Dana Young has filed a 332-page bill calling for an overhaul of the state’s gambling laws.
Young, the leader of the House Republican caucus, filed the bill a day before the state Legislature begins its annual session, proposing two destination resort casinos in the state, slot machines at two pari-mutuels outside South Florida, the introduction of new kinds of games, and the creation of a statewide gambling commission.
Young said the time is right to have this kind of conversation because “at some point, our members are going to possibly be required to make a decision on renewal or expiration of the Seminole gaming compact.”
The tribe is nearing the end of its five-year deal that gives it exclusive rights to offer card games like blackjack at its nine casinos throughout the state. If the tribe and Governor Rick Scott can’t come to a new agreement, the state will lose out on its revenue-sharing deal with the Indian tribe as required by the compact.
Asked why she didn’t include the Seminoles in her bill, Young said that since the tribe hasn’t come to a new agreement with the state, there was no point including them, although she did say that the state is “certainly open to continuing dialogue with the Tribe as to how they fit in the larger picture.”
According to Young, the absence of this revenue sharing with the Seminole tribe is a big reason why it’s time for the state to reignite talks of allowing destination casinos in Florida. As part of her proposal, the state would open bidding for two destination resorts, which would require a $2 billion investment per resort, excluding the cost of buying land, as well as approval from any host county where these resorts will rise. In return, these proposed resorts would each have to pay the state a guaranteed annual $175 million in addition to state and local taxes.
Another item in Young’s proposal involves cutting slots tax for pari-mutuels from 35% to 25% should the government green light the opening of destination resorts.
John Sowinski, the president of the No Casinos organization in Orlando, lamented about the massive political and societal changes that will be brought by the proposed legislation.
“It invites wall to wall casino gambling in Florida and the social costs and crime that go with it,” Sowinski said in a statement. “It creates so much new gambling that it also launches a vast new government bureaucracy to try to regulate it.”
