Lawmakers are tackling the thorny gambling issue after a federal judge late last year decided that the Seminoles can continue to offer the blackjack games, even though a 2010 agreement giving the tribe the authority to conduct the games expired in 2015.
Rep. Mike La Rosa, a St. Cloud Republican sponsoring the House legislation, called his proposal a “straightforward bill” that provides certainty for the state’s gambling industry which “has been in disarray for the past few years.”
But critics objected that the proposal gives short shrift to pari-mutuels. The measure would, among other things, ban popular and lucrative “designated player” poker-style games operated by numerous cardrooms throughout the state, an activity at the heart of the legal dispute between the Seminoles and the state.
“The pari-mutuel industry has been a friend to this state. They’ve helped provide a lot of dollars for a lot of things to happen. They by-and-large are getting treated less well than they deserve for the service they’ve rendered the state,” Rep. Joe Geller, D-Aventura, said.
