TALLAHASSEE — Comprehensive gaming legislation in the state House won’t help Ebro Greyhound Park’s quest for slots.
The bill (HB 1383), filed earlier this week, reflects House Speaker Will Weatherford’s low view of the gaming industry and desire to avoid expanding it. The bill does not include a plan for two South Florida destination casinos, like a similar Senate measure (SPB 7052), nor would it allow slots in several counties, including Washington, which have approved them by voter referenda.
Instead, the bill would overhaul Florida statutes, cleaning up the codes and adding a Gaming Control Commission to regulate the industry.
Gaming Committee Chairman Rob Schenck, R-Spring Hill, filed the 411-page bill, sure to be the chief piece of legislation his committee hears during the 2014 session.
The bill is silent on the slot machine issue, but state Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, said he is “open-minded” about Ebro’s situation because voters already have approved them. He is running for an open state Senate seat in 2016 where his district would include Washington County.
Gaetz, a member of the gaming committee, said he wants to give the will of the voters “special deference.” He said he wasn’t sure if he would support the Ebro slots, though, and would need time to review the particulars on the situation — the games that would exist, the tax rate and the benefit to the community.
On the whole, Gaetz is against expanding gambling not because of moral qualms, but because it’s not a sound economic development strategy most of the time, he said. He’s particularly opposed to destination resorts and said he’s “very skeptical” that putting big ones in South Florida would benefit his Panhandle constituents.
“The money doesn’t sleep overnight in many of the communities where casinos exist,” he said. “The money is shipped off to, you know, Las Vegas or Asia.”
The House bill also does not address decoupling — which would end a requirement that greyhound tracks run a minimum number of races to operate a card room — or mandatory injury reporting for tracks. But Gaetz sees those issues as top priorities and will fight for them in the Gaming Committee, he said.
Gaetz also said it’s paramount to keep decoupling away from special interest groups that might bog it down and prevent its passage.
“Most legislators — and even most industry stakeholders — agree that decoupling is the right thing to do,” he said.
The gaming bill also does not include a provision that would require a constitutional amendment to expand gambling in Florida, but that is forthcoming. Gaetz said he plans to put forward such a proposal, an idea that the House speaker has promoted.
“(It) would take the power to regulate gaming away from the Legislature and give the power to the people,” Gaetz said.
The constitutional requirement would set up a situation where if Bay County residents wanted slots, voters in Miami would have a say, as well as voters in every other part of the state.
Gaetz said that’s a good thing because expanded gaming “affects the brand of the state of Florida.”
“We market Florida as a brand and so the activities within our state either enhance or tarnish that brand no matter where we live,” he said.
State Rep. Jimmy Patronis doesn’t sit on the gaming committee and wasn’t prepared to take a position on the constitutional amendment idea, which would require 60 percent voter approval to expand gaming.
Patronis does, however, know that he doesn’t want more slots, casinos or betting tracks in the state.
“As the status quo currently exists under Florida law, I am content with the current environment,” he said. “I do not like the idea of any further expansion of gaming.”
The Panama City Republican said he couldn’t support the Senate’s primary gaming bill with its plan for destination casinos. A separate Senate bill also includes a constitutional amendment requirement for future gaming.
In Ebro’s case, Patronis endorsed an older method used for Miami-Dade and Broward counties’ slots. It first required statewide voter approval and then local voter approval. He sympathized with Washington County voters' plight, but held firm on his position.
“I think the exercise that they went through does tell the Legislature — and it does tell the voters — that this region is interested in slots,” he said, adding, “But based on the current status of the (state) constitution — to my interpretation and also the governor’s and the attorney general’s — (it) does not make them eligible for slots.”