Weak – but mildly helpful- MIami Herald Editorial on Gambling Bill
Slow it down
OUR OPINION: House casino bill beats expansive Senate version
Reconciling Senate and House versions of the casino bill in the Legislature just became harder. Maybe impossible.
The once-matching bills have been amended to ensure the best possible reception in each chamber. Trouble is, the Senate version expands gambling in Florida, while the House bill achieves a better balance. It would scale back existing gaming and seeks to put a lid on future expansion.
In other words, they’re totally different.
Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff’s bill, which survived its first committee vote last week, goes too far. It opens the door to the same full-scale casino games at any pari-mutuel in Miami-Dade and Broward. It also allows them to pay the 10 percent tax rate that would be paid by resort casinos — minus the mandate of a $2 billion investment imposed on new casinos. “I’ve given up saying it’s not an expansion because I’ve lost that battle,” Sen. Bogdanoff conceded.
In the gambling-averse House, though, Rep. Erik Fresen’s version would ban so-called Internet cafes and maquinita parlors that prey on local residents, repeal 17 dormant parimutuel permits and allow a limited number of destination resorts. That at least heads in the right direction. The Legislature needs to study all alternatives, not rush into what’s politically expedient. Gambling needs to be better regulated, not the free-for-all that the Senate bill has become.
Gambling Traffic in Downtown Miami. Hey – Why not pay for more fraudulent traffic studies? Most of Them are done by Shills.
Just Say “No” to Casinos … by gimleteye
Apparently Armando Codina is stepping in a half-hearted way against casinos. According to Miami Today, Codina now takes the public position that a casino in downtown Miami cannot be built by Genting without massive traffic impacts. Codina suggests that Genting should pay for the traffic infrastructure upgrade needed. Heck, Armando: we can’t even complete an off ramp on North Miami Avenue to the Design District. We can’t even figure out how people are going to get to the new Marlins Stadium by car or public transit. Anyone who has read this blog knows our view about the pitiful traffic pattern of downtown Miami, including the insertion of the Performing Arsht Center and the Heat Arena and the new Museum named for Jorge Perez. Yes with failing to plan for traffic, Miami shoots itself in the foot better than any other city in America. But casinos should be rejected in Miami. Period. Watch the video.
Could Gambling Bill Be A Sleeper Issue in the Republican Primary? Here’s the perspective of One Angry Republican writing in Eyeonmiami.blogspot.com
Angry at My Political Party over Gambling Donations. By Geniusofdespair
As a registered Republican — yes again — I am mad that, according to the Miami Herald, my party took in $628,000 from Genting (I would suppose to distribute to candidates without the gambling taint of a direct deposit to the candidates). In fact my Florida Pubs took in $2 million from gaming. Shit! The article also says that Shill Rep. Erik Fresen wants a citizen vote on on gambling. Why not? They will lie about jobs and get the vote they need – they already polled on it.
Well, I did my own research on my old party — since 10/03/2011 those damn State Dems took in almost $100,000 from Genting, $105,000 from the Seminole tribe, $45 from Hartman & Tyner, Inc. — $250,000 total from gambling, so they ain’t no saints either. As an aside, the Dems also took in $45,000 from Florida Crystals. Why is Genting so generous? Because Florida is offering them the most lucrative deal of any of the other U.S. States except Nevada and New Jersey and those deals were forged decades ago. They must be laughing at our dumb Florida politicians for putting together a sweetheart deal for them.
There was a good commentary on gambling downtown in yesterday’s paper by Daniel Shoer Roth. He makes some excellent points:
In no other world-class city are casinos located in the heart of the financial district, except in Las Vegas, which is a city mainly devoted to gambling. Even in Malaysia, where Genting is based, the company’s flagship casino is located 30 miles northeast of Kuala Lumpur on top of a hill.
These downtown casinos not only will occupy the land they have acquired, but they will also invade public spaces.
Shoer Roth contends Genting will have to take over close to 6 acres of city streets, in addition to the 13.9 they own, to make their project happen.
Fresen Bill- Scrambling to Save Casino Gambling? Write your State Representative to say NO EXPANSION OF DESTINATION CASINO GAMBLING !
House casino bill sponsor proposes changes to reduce gambling options
In an effort to win support from the gambling-averse House, Rep. Erik Fresen proposed amendments to a casino bill.
BY MARY ELLEN KLAS
HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU
The House sponsor of the bill to bring three mega resort casinos to Florida unveiled a series of amendments Wednesday to make the measure more palatable to his conservative, anti-gambling colleagues.
The changes by Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, are designed to “scale back existing gaming and ensure there is no additional gaming,” he said.
But while Fresen’s changes are designed to limit the expansion of gambling in Florida, the state Senate went in the opposite direction last week when it adopted amendments to a similar bill by Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff that opens the door to Las Vegas-style slot machines in every horse and dog track and jai-alai fronton in the state, so long as voters approve.
Under Fresen’s proposal, the state would authorize three destination resort casinos and, like the Senate bill, allow them only if voters approve in a countywide referendum. Bogdanoff’s bill, however, would allow for the three resort casinos to operate in any part of the state.
Fresen’s amendments would also permanently ban the so-called Internet Cafes and maquinitas parlors that rely on a loophole in the state’s sweepstakes law to operate slot machine look-alikes — a contrast to Bogdanoff’s bill, which would regulate the games. Another amendment would also prohibit the state from issuing any new parimutuel permits, repeal the 17 dormant parimutuel permits now in existence, and would use the proceeds from the casino taxes to buy back permits from up to four existing parimutuels.
Fresen also proposes an amendment to give the state’s existing parimutuels the same 10 percent tax rate on their slot machine games as the new destination resort casinos, once the resort casinos open.
“The crux of these amendments is to address some of the desires an some of the concerns expressed by members,’’ Fresen said.
The bill sponsors continue to look as if they face an uphill climb to win agreement on the plans this session. House Speaker Dean Cannon has repeatedly said he’s skeptical that the resort casino bill would pass the House, where a majority want to reduce gambling options in Florida.
Fresen said his bill, HB 487, will get its first hearing in the Business and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee chaired by Rep. Doug Holder, R-Sarasota, within the next two weeks.
While Bogdanoff’s bill has moved through its first Senate committee, Fresen’s nearly identical proposal has remained in limbo in the House despite heavy lobbying by the gaming industry and an influx of more than $2 million in campaign cash into Republican Party of Florida coffers, including $628,000 from the Malaysian-based Genting alone.
“The pace of movement of all bills in the house is much slower than in the Senate,’’ Fresen said.
Does Miami Really Need the Destination Casino Boost for Tourism? Doubts Grow!
CASINO GAMBLING
Casinos want to boost Miami tourism, but does it need the help?
Amid a record year for Miami tourism, casino companies tout their resorts as a big boost for the vacation industry. Does it need the help?
Preslee Rakes, left, her mother Tina Rakes, center, and Brad Cunningham, right, all from Kansas, feed seagulls during a visit to the South Beach area of Miami Beach, Fla. Florida tourism bounced back better than expected in 2011. A year ago, after the oil spill and lingering economic woes, the outlook was bleak. But it wasn’t as bad as everyone thought, and more modest growth is expected in 2012. ALAN DIAZ / AP
BY DOUGLAS HANKS
DHANKS@MIAMIHERALD.COM
Two of the world’s largest casino operators promise major boosts to tourism if they can open resorts in downtown Miami. But how much help does the vacation industry need?
Hotels, restaurants and other tourism businesses in Miami-Dade now employ more people than they did before the recession. Among the country’s top hotel markets, only Nashville and San Francisco saw a bigger boost in revenue from hotel rooms than in Miami-Dade, where the measure is up 14 percent this year.
Hotel taxes in Miami-Dade surged 29 percent in the latest report, despite a strong showing in 2010. In fact, taxes charged to hotel guests have more than erased losses in the recession and are back to record levels.
“We don’t need the help,” said Bruce Turkel, whose Coconut Grove advertising firm has represented the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau for nearly 20 years. “On the other hand, if [the introduction of casino resorts] is managed well, it could help us.”
His comments capture the complex equation under consideration as South Florida considers adding mega-casinos to its tourism arsenal. The vacation industry is enjoying some of its best days by many measures, yet the economy needs a significant boost to leave the recession behind. Casino resorts say they can build on Miami’s tourism appeal, particularly among conventioneers, but critics see mixed messages.
They point to Miami’s strong popularity with tourists and warn that expanded gambling could spoil the city’s image as a chic playground.
And they see the size of the proposed resorts — enough to double downtown’s current hotel inventory — as swamping an otherwise-healthy industry. With casinos able to rely on gambling profits instead of hotel revenue, some predict the resorts would bring down rates across the area.
“If you are in the gaming business and the rooms business, the gaming business wins and you give the rooms away,’’ said Michael Depatie, CEO of Kimpton Hotels, which runs the 411-room Epic hotel about 10 blocks from the proposed Sands site. “That is a threat to any hotel.”
With unemployment near record levels and South Florida down nearly 180,000 jobs since the housing bust, casinos can make a strong economic argument regardless of the status of tourism.
A bill under consideration by the Florida Legislature would allow casino resorts provided they cost $2 billion to develop — enough of a budget to create thousands of construction jobs in a region that has lost almost half of its building industry. Genting Group, the Malaysian company that has already bought $500 million worth of land along the Miami waterfront, promises to open up South Florida to the coveted Asian market through its popular casino resorts in Singapore and Malaysia.
Some experts also see lavish casino resorts as a way for Miami to stay competitive, as more destinations around the country and the globe pursue their own gambling projects.
Casino resorts are “probably the one element of the visitor experience that’s missing in Miami right now,” said Peter Yesawich, an Orlando-based tourism marketing veteran who is now vice chairman of MMGY Global.
Plans for Miami floated by Genting and the Las Vegas Sands Corp. would arguably deliver a top goal of the tourism industry: a modern convention center and adjoining headquarters hotel. This week, Miami Beach invited private developers to compete for a plan to build a hotel next to the city’s convention center as part of a major rehab of the facility, which tourism leaders have pursued since the late 1990s.
Walt Disney World is funding much of the opposition to the casino bill, with its advocates warning more gambling would tarnish Florida’s appeal as a family vacation spot. But supporters of the casino industry say Miami’s potential as a convention powerhouse could be the main motivator.
“You add gaming in with everything else, you’ve got the No. 1 convention destination,’’ said Glenn Schaeffer, a former Mandalay Bay president in Vegas who briefly worked for the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. “Orlando would have to up its game.”
Broward’s tourism industry hasn’t rebounded as strongly as in Miami-Dade, where a steady stream of foreign tourists bolstered bookings throughout the downturn. Casino companies are also shopping potential Broward sites, though industry insiders say Miami is the No. 1 choice for a casino resort given its global appeal.
Genting estimates its 5,200-room Resorts World Miami would employ 19,000 people. That would make it Miami-Dade’s largest private employer. Under current conditions, that many jobs would shrink the county’s unemployment rate from 10.2 percent to 8.8 percent.
With 30 acres and six towers modeled after a coral reef, Resorts World Miami would be grand enough to become a destination unto itself, Genting contends. Executives pointed to a similar Genting resort in Singapore, saying it helped boost tourism in the country by 40 percent. A top target would be Latin American gamblers who switch planes in Miami on their way to Vegas.
Genting’s plan calls for a sprawling 200,000-square-foot meeting space on an upper floor of its resort. Sands said it would create an exhibit hall with as much as one million square feet of space. — about twice the size of the Miami Beach expo. Sands, which runs one of the top convention centers in Vegas, claims it can bring the kind of large-scale meetings and trade shows that have mostly eluded Miami Beach and its 1957 convention center.
“There are lot of cities that are a lot less appealing than Miami that do better with conventions and trade shows,’’ said Andy Abboud, vice president of government relations for Sands. With fewer than 2,000 rooms, a Sands downtown resort would not be large enough to accommodate the thousands of attendees for major shows, so local hotels will benefit, he said. “We don’t want to build it all.’’
A downtown convention center may be successful enough to leave Miami Beach wondering if it needs one too. A Sands facility large enough to house the Miami International Boat Show and other massive events, would be a significant threat, said Stuart Blumberg, a co-chair of an advisory panel for the Miami Beach Convention Center. “The Sands model would really build up the downtown hoteliers,’’ he said. “It puts the Beach [center] out of business.”
Genting Lobbying Art Form – In NY and Florida. There’s Something Wrong With This Picture in Our “Democracy”
Behind an Army of Lobbyists, an Instant Force in Gambling
By CHARLES V. BAGLI
Published: January 12, 2012
In the summer of 2009, a Malaysian billionaire took an unexpected interest in a small town in the Catskill Mountains in New York. With little notice, he bought a stake in a racetrack casino where the owners had struggled for more than a decade to develop a gambling complex.
It was the first move in a brash attempt by KT Lim, chairman of one of the world’s largest gambling conglomerates, to muscle his way into the potentially lucrative American market. But Mr. Lim’s company, Genting Berhad, did not go it alone.
First, Genting hired a lobbyist named John L. Cordo, who was once on the staff of the Republican majority in the New York Senate. Then, with the company rapidly expanding, it amassed a who’s who of influential lobbyists.
Now, as Genting pursues multibillion-dollar projects in New York City at Aqueduct Racetrack and in Miami, its lobbying offers a primer on how a well-heeled newcomer can make up for its lack of experience and connections in the United States.
Because casino gambling is highly regulated, the industry has long drawn swarms of lobbyists promising to help navigate state capitols. Casino gambling is banned in New York, with the exception of casinos on Indian land and electronic slot machines at nine racetracks. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has proposed legalizing the industry, though such a move would require action by the Legislature and a referendum.
Genting’s lobbyists in New York, according to state lobbying records, include Patricia Lynch, a former top aide to the Democratic Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, and Nicholas A. Spano, a former Republican state senator.
The company has also hired Jennifer Cunningham, a close friend of Mr. Cuomo’s, to do public relations work and Bradley Tusk, who was Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s campaign manager in 2009, to assist with planning.
Genting even created an advocacy group called the New York Gaming Association, which is led by another prominent lobbyist, James Featherstonhaugh.
Much of Genting’s spending on advocacy does not have to be disclosed under New York law, but the company did report that it paid Mr. Cordo $195,000 in the first half of 2011. Genting’s spending is believed to have increased sharply in recent months.
Christian Goode, a senior Genting executive on the New York and Miami projects, said in an interview that Genting had hired so many lobbyists in those locations because it wanted to participate in the political process “like any other company.”
Mr. Goode declined to discuss the lobbyists’ specific roles. “We are a large multinational company with lots of exposure,” he said. “Things come up from time to time. We just want to make sure we’re properly represented.”
Stefan Friedman of SKD Knickerbocker, Ms. Cunningham’s consulting firm, said: “We have a proactive agenda that includes building a $4 billion convention center and legalizing table gaming in New York, both of which will create tens of thousands of jobs and generate billions of dollars in economic revenue. We think those issues are important, and we know nothing comes without a lot of hard work.”
Genting’s lobbying reflects its sizable ambitions and spending in New York. When a subsidiary won the license to open the first gambling hall in New York City, at the Aqueduct racetrack, with an offer of $380 million, it far outbid its rivals. It has since poured an additional $450 million into erecting the casino, which opened in October.
Until Genting took over, the state’s 10-year effort to find a casino operator for Aqueduct had been hobbled by delays, missteps and political scandals. In 2010, the state inspector general determined that State Senate leaders had manipulated the process to give the contract in an earlier round of bidding to a company that had donated to Democratic candidates. Genting was not involved in that earlier bidding.
Because of that scandal, lobbyists in New York say they are advising gambling companies to avoid giving sizable campaign contributions to Albany politicians. Genting did not give large ones in the first half of 2011; filings for the second half are due next week.
Last week, Mr. Cuomo made Genting’s plans for a $4 billion expansion at Aqueduct a central element of his economic development strategy. The expansion would include the country’s largest convention center, three hotels with a total of 3,000 rooms, an entertainment center and room for additional electronic slot machines and table games.
Genting is following a similar approach in Florida as part of its strategy to conquer the American market.
The company popped up in Miami last May, announcing it would build the largest casino in the world on Biscayne Bay with 5,200 hotel rooms, a convention center, 50 restaurants, luxury shops and a rooftop lagoon.
The planned casino is not even legal yet, but Genting has spent more than $400 million on land, joined local civic associations, contributed $628,320 to Republicans and Democrats and hired two dozen lobbyists and public relations firms.
On Monday, a State Senate panel approved a bill that would allow for three megacasino resorts in southern Florida.
“Being a relatively unknown Asian company has not been an impediment for Genting in New York or Florida,” said Grant Govertsen, a principal of the Union Gaming Group, a research firm. “More than anything else these days, money talks.”
Gambling critics said Genting’s ability to spend so lavishly on lobbying suggested how much the company stood to gain.
“They intend to soak so much money out of our community that spending millions on local and state government isn’t much more than a rounding error,” said Dan Gelber, a former federal prosecutor in Miami and the chairman of the No Casinos group in South Florida.
Genting boasts it has $5 billion in cash, at a time when most developers are unable to obtain financing for major projects. The family of Mr. Lim, the Genting chairman, has provided financing for Indian casinos in New York and Connecticut.
But in 2009, the family’s real estate firm bought a stake in Monticello Raceway in the Catskills, 90 miles from Manhattan, seeking to build a Las Vegas-style casino for the St. Regis Mohawks. That effort ended with recriminations among the partners, although the Lims still own the electronic slot parlor there.
At Aqueduct, there have been no such missteps. Genting is promoting a plan to add hotels and a convention center that would capitalize on the site’s proximity to two international airports and the ability to draw conventions that are too large for the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.
But the lavish spending does not assure success in New York or Miami.
Across New York, there are now nine racetracks, including Aqueduct, where operators have installed electronic slot machines, and five Indian casinos, all outside New York City. Mr. Cuomo’s proposal to legalize casino gambling would allow for poker, blackjack and other table games, as well as slot machines.
Mr. Goode, the Genting executive, said the company wanted the state to grant it exclusive gambling rights, regardless of whether live table games are approved, although he would not say whether he meant within New York City or in the region.
Genting also wants a substantially lower “tax rate” on gambling revenues for any additional machines at Aqueduct, he said.
Both of those proposals would require approval by the New York Legislature. Other gambling companies will surely resist the proposals and hire their own lobbyists to help fight them.
From Mike Burke – on the Tea Party and Casinos
Dropping its facade as a political reform group, the TEA PARTY, on orders from a Tampa lobbyist and local…republicans, now touts for the GENTING GROUP of maylasia. GENTING seeks to build the largest casino in the world at what is currently known as 1 Herald Plaza; promising a rosy future for local children as cocktail waitresses, croupiers, pole dancers and scullery maids. It would also give TEA PARTY heartthrob, gov. RICK SCOTT, some jobs to claim.
SINCE WHEN DID THE TEA PARTY ENDORSE GAMBLING?
SINCE WHEN DID THE TEA PARTY ENDORSE CORPORATE WELFARE*?
The answer is that they always supported a Wall St. agenda. The executive director of FREEDOM WORKS makes $500k/yr! His name is DICK ARMEY. Armey is an ex-republican congressman from texas (natch)and gofer for NEWT GINGRICH and jailbird congressman TOM DELAY.
Now, the TEA PARTY has gone vegas and wants the city of miami to front *$150m in infrastructure improvements to accommodate their 3million/sf behemoth.
Funeral arrangements for the TEA PARTY MIAMI are to be announced soon by their anonymous spokesperson. Surely the pobox at 1602 alton will provide a commodious venue for local astroturfers to mourn.
mike burke
Who Knew? The Tea Party Endorses Destination Casinos – Ignoring the Social Costs.
After careful consideration and debate, Tea Party Miami has endorsed Genting’s Casino Destination Resort proposal and efforts by Rep. Erik Fresen to legalize three casinos in Miami-Dade and/or Broward Counties. The Fresen proposal fosters competition and will create a boom of economic growth Miami sorely needs.
Genting Malaysia Berhan, a $45 billion public corporation, recently purchased the Miami Herald Building in downtown Miami. They have unveiled their proposed design plans for what will be called “Resorts World Miami,” a $3 billion gaming and mixed-use Destination Resort complex to be built within the next few years, assuming they acquire adequate legislative support.
In an effort to provide much needed jobs to the local Miami economy as quickly as possible, the Genting corporation has also purchased the adjacent Omni mall property which is currently abandoned and in foreclosure. They intend to equip the ready-to-use property with gaming equipment and to hire approximately 5,000 local workers as soon as Florida Legislators pass a bill allowing casino gaming in Florida. This temporary casino will kick-start our sagging economy.
Fresen, a Miami Republican, plans to file a Destination Resorts Casino Gaming bill in the upcoming weeks. Fresen’s bill will call for the issuance of three resort casino licenses in South Florida: two likely in Miami-Dade County and one in Broward County.
The mixed-use project will be unlike anything South Florida has seen in terms of sheer magnitude and design. With plans for four hotels, two condominium towers, more than 50 restaurants and bars and a luxury retail shopping mall. It’s being billed as one of the largest projects in the state.
The design of the 10 million-square-foot development draws inspiration from South Florida’s coral reefs. The centerpiece is a 3.6-acre outdoor lagoon – equivalent to 12 Olympic-size swimming pools and surrounded by natural sand beaches. This would allow visitors to literally swim from Biscayne Boulevard to the edge of Biscayne Bay.
The Seminole Indians have enjoyed a monopoly of casino gaming in Florida based on a deal Governor Charlie Crist made with the tribe. Florida gets the lowest percentage of revenue from the Seminoles of any of the states that allow Indian Gaming.
This time is right for non-Indian casino gaming in Florida. Our city, county and state budgets require it. Important future questions are: who is the best custodian of these valuable licenses; and what locations and opportunities are the most suitable for the Florida populous? It’s appropriate and desirable that all South Florida residents have a voice in the final application of casino gaming in their backyards.
In the meantime, Genting has put forward a world-class proposal that Tea Party Miami supports.
Take the poll @ www.teapartymiami.org
Pari-Mutuels Gain Parity in Gambling BIll Coming out of Senate Committee- A Sign of Further Expansion of Gambling. It Could be Endless.
GAMBLING- from the Miami Herald Jan 10, 2012
A key Senate committee voted to allow pari-mutuels the same games and tax rates as casinos during the gambling bill’s first major test before the Florida Legislature.
Senate Bill 710, the controversial gaming bill, passed the Senate Regulated Industries Committee on Monday 7-3. It has more committees to stop in before the bill will hit the Senate floor, though.
BY MARY ELLEN KLAS
HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU
TALLAHASSEE — With a standing-room-only crowd of lobbyists watching Monday, a Florida Senate committee voted to bring destination resort casinos to Florida but only after allowing competing pari-mutuels to operate as full casinos with no additional investment or voter approval.
The Senate Regulated Industries Committee bowed to the pressures of the state’s existing gambling industry and attached an amendment to the controversial bill before passing it, 7-3. It was a dubious victory for the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale.
The change, if it remains part of the measure, could serve as a poison pill to doom the bill, especially in the gambling-averse House, where the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, said it would succeed only if it results in a net reduction of gaming in Florida.
The committee modified the bill by opening the door to allowing the same full-scale casino games at any pari-mutuel facility in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and allow pari-mutuels to pay the same 10 percent tax rate that would be paid by the resort casinos. Pari-mutuels outside Miami-Dade and Broward would also be allowed to get slot machines if county voters approve.
The change forced Bogdanoff to admit that the measure would indeed expand gambling in the state.
“I’ve given up saying it’s not an expansion because I’ve lost that battle,” she said. “Call it what you will.”
The pari-mutuel amendment was added to Bogdanoff’s 170-page bill by Sen. Charlie Dean, R-Inverness, and Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Boca Raton. Bogdanoff had hoped to require the pari-mutuels to invest at least $125 million to win a casino permit, but the amendment took out that provision.
Bogdanoff said the change would subject the casinos at pari-mutuels to lighter regulations than those required of the destination resorts. The bill would create a new state agency to regulate all gambling, and create a state Gaming Control Commission to authorize three resort casino permits and impose strict new regulation for casino operators.
Despite the change, Dean voted against the bill. “I support the industry and the license-holders in this state,” he said. “I think we’re reaching way too far and are in too big a hurry.”
Bogdanoff countered that the amended bill would at least “stop the proliferation” of the kind of predatory gambling that now exists in Florida because it would put a halt to new pari-mutuel permits and regulate so-called Internet cafes and maquinitas — online slot rooms that have proliferated in strip shopping centers through a loophole in state law.
“This is the first time we will take a strategic direction on gaming,” she said.
Speaking against the bill was the Florida Sheriffs Association, John Sowinski of No Casinos — the Disney-backed effort opposing the bill — the Florida Attractions Association, the Southwest Florida-based Casino Watch, and the Florida Baptist Convention.
“This is not our Florida,” said Bill Bunkley, of the Florida Baptist Convention, urging senators to reject it because it would be “a legacy bill for each one of you and this legislature.”
The Florida Chamber of Commerce began running television ads opposing the bills on Monday, and created a website called BadBetForFlorida.com.
But also on Monday, a group of business groups sent a joint letter to legislators urging them to support the bill because of its potential to create jobs.
Speaking on behalf of the bill were lobbyists for the Associated Builders and Contractors and the National Federation of Independent Business.
Bogdanoff dismissed criticism that more gambling in Florida would ruin the state’s family-friendly image, but suggested that absent a better direction, the state would be consumed by predatory gaming.
“People do not go to South Beach to see Mickey Mouse,” she said. “We have the strip club capital of the world in Tampa. We have not ruined our family-friendly image.”
The bill will next go to the Senate Appropriations Committee, chaired by Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, who opposes the bill.
Senate President Mike Haridopolos has said that he wants the proposal to come to a full vote on the Senate floor, but after Monday’s vote some legislators are urging him to reconsider that promise.
“I believe there’s better than a 50-50 chance this bill won’t pass,” said Sen. John Thrasher, R-Jacksonville, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee. He called it “the largest expansion of gaming in the United States” and voted against the bill.
Thrasher, a former lobbyist for Jacksonville Greyhound Racing, said he disagrees with Bogdanoff’s premise that the Legislature has let the pari-mutuel industry call the shots with the state. He said there is a need to close the loopholes that have allowed for the proliferation of online slot machine parlors and the creation of a barrel-racing permit to allow for a Gretna race track owner to get approval for slot machines.
Dan Adkins of Hartner and Tyner, owner of the Mardi Gras Casino and greyhound track in Hallandale Beach, said that despite the bill’s changes to accommodate the pari-mutuel industry, the measure continues to face “an uphill battle.” He predicted the Senate would let the measure stall until the House acts on it.
House sponsor Erik Fresen said he expects the bill to get a hearing in committee there next week.
Among the changes approved:
• Pari-mutuels in Miami-Dade and Broward County would be allowed to operate full casino games and get a 10 percent tax rate.
• Pari-mutuels would no longer be required to invest $125 million to convert their horse and dog track permits to full casino games, and they would be allowed to obtain their casino licenses using a different set of regulations.
• Pari-mutuels outside Miami-Dade and Broward would be allowed to get slot machines after July 7, 2015, or after the resort casinos start operating.
• Any county that puts a casino resort referendum on the ballot must also put on the ballot a question relating to expanding the casino to any pari-mutuels located in the same county.
Palm Beach Post Opposes New Gambling BIll
By THE PALM BEACH POST
Updated: 6:50 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6, 2012
First reports to the contrary, the revised “destination resort” casino bill from state Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, wouldn’t ban Internet cafes. So there goes what we potentially liked most about her new effort, one of the most controversial issues the Legislature will consider as it convenes this week. In fact, the Senate Regulated Industries Committee gets its first look at the new draft Monday.
Sen. Bogdanoff said Thursday in an interview that she doubts the state can ban the 1,000 or so Internet cafés, which have sprung up in strip malls to offer “sweepstakes” games that mimic slot machines. Instead, she said, the revised bill would make them pay taxes – “They pay nothing now” – and ban new ones.
That’s something, but not enough to make the whole casino package palatable. The overall effect still would be a major expansion of gambling in Florida.
Sen. Bogdanoff and Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, envisioned a bill that would allow up to three Las Vegas-style casinos in South Florida and create a “gaming commission” to regulate all forms of gambling. That has morphed into a proposal that would allow any pari-mutuel, such as the Palm Beach Kennel Club, to add slot machines and become full-fledged casinos under one condition: “The voters need to have the last say,” Sen. Bogdanoff said.
Pari-mutuels and the “racinos” of Miami-Dade and Broward counties, which got slots after an earlier voter-approved gambling expansion, now pay 35 percent in taxes. Sen. Bogdanoff wants to lower that at least to 18 percent once the first “destination resort” casino opens. Casinos would pay 10 percent.
It’s impossible to know how many big casinos might come to Florida. It’s impossible to know how many parimutuels and racinos would expand to what extent. So it is impossible for state economists to project with confidence what the revised gambling law would bring in. At first blush, it looks as if betting establishments will get to keep a lot more of their winnings. That would be a loss on top of the $250 million a year the state would lose because the Seminole compact is based on exclusivity that would vanish. Some early reports also said Rep. Bogdanoff wanted to make big casinos pay 18 percent too. But she said casino companies told her they wouldn’t come to Florida for that.
To clear the way for “destination resort” casinos, backers have to buy off the racinos/pari-mutuels with the promise of additional games and/or a tax cut. But tying legislative approval for big casinos to expansion at racinos and pari-mutuels undermines Sen. Bogdanoff’s stated intent to curb gambling in Florida.
We agree with Sen. Bogdanoff that gambling in Florida is poorly planned and regulated, but neither her original bill nor the revision helps much. Claiming that the bill would control gambling is a tactic to get the resort-casino measure through a House dominated by social conservatives. The original bill targeted South Florida, to mollify theme park-affiliated Central Florida legislators who don’t want to tarnish the state’s Disney/family-friendly “brand.”
That brand is worth protecting. So is the biotech brand Florida is growing, from Scripps and Max Planck in Palm Beach County to Torrey Pines in St. Lucie County to the Burnham Institute in Orlando. Gambling carries high social costs, including crime and addiction, cannibalizes existing tourism businesses and – the clincher – repeatedly has failed to pay off on previous promises of magic money for schools.
Throw out everything except new regulations for Internet cafés. After flirting with “destination resort” casinos and a “gaming commission,” that might seem a big comedown. In fact, it would be a big improvement over legislation that would guarantee an explosion of gambling in Florida.
- Jac Wilder VerSteeg,
for The Palm Beach Post Editorial Board
Norman Braman on Gambling
