• Logout
  • Member Center

SEMINOLE TRIBE

Florida Legislature reaches compromise on Seminole gambling revenues

Hialeah Park would reopen and the Seminole Tribe would be allowed to expand slots to all its reservations under a compromise reached in Tallahassee. The tribe must approve the deal.

Agreement highlights

The gambling agreement reached by lawmakers late Wednesday includes:

The Seminole Tribe's Hard Rock casinos near Hollywood and Tampa keep their slot machines and card games, including blackjack, in return for a minimum $150 million annual payment to the state for 15 years.

Hialeah Park race track would reopen with card rooms and quarter horse racing. Slot machines would be allowed two years later.

• Minimum age to play at casinos is 21.

The tribe now can offer no-limit poker at all seven of its reservations but it may operate blackjack, chemin de fer and baccarat only in Broward and Hillsborough counties. They must be removed from the tribe's other facilities.

Horse and dog tracks around the state would be able to offer no-limit poker. They will not get video lottery terminals, or VLTs, which are bingo-style slot machines, unless they get legislative approval and pass a voter referendum.

The tribe may reduce its payments to the state only if blackjack and other Class III games are authorized in the state and their net win drops below $1.37 billion.

The tax rate for casinos at dog and horse tracks and jai alai frontons in Miami-Dade and Broward counties will drop from 50 percent to 35 percent.

Gov. Charlie Crist has until Aug. 31 to negotiate a deal with the tribe; it must be approved by the Legislature.

Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

Florida's historic Hialeah Park racetrack would return. The Seminole Tribe's Hard Rock casinos would keep their slot machines and card games. South Florida's parimutuels would bear a lower tax burden. And tracks around the state could seek bingo-style slot machines in the future.

Those are the major provisions of a last-minute compromise reached in dramatic fashion late Wednesday by House and Senate leaders. If approved by the Seminole Tribe, the plan would bring the state a minimum of $150 million in annual revenue sharing from the Seminole Tribe, and allow the state to use another $150 million set aside by the tribe this year when its previous gambling agreement with the governor was voided by the court.

''This is a victory for the children of Florida and education,'' said Gov. Charlie Crist, who must now renegotiate a pact with the tribe under the new legislative guidelines, and then have it approved by lawmakers.

Will the Seminole Tribe accept it?

''There's a great possibility of that,'' he said. ``I mean, I want to be respectful of their opportunity to have a chance to talk to their members. But it looks like the parameters -- from what I've heard -- are very good.''

The deal adopts most of the provisions sought by the anti-gambling House. It includes a plan to allow slot machines at Seminole casinos outside of Miami-Dade and Broward -- the tribe has seven reservations -- and the exclusive right to blackjack and baccarat at its Hard Rock casinos in Broward and Hillsborough counties.

The biggest winner may be Hialeah. Lawmakers agreed to allow the famous track to reopen with card rooms and quarter horse racing. After operating live racing and simulcast races for two years, it can offer Las Vegas-style slot machines.

''Hialeah is alive again,'' said Luis Rojas, a former state representative who has been lobbying for the race course's return for years.

Hialeah Rep. Steve Bovo, a former city councilman who used to work for track owner John Brunetti, called the deal historic.

''This is going to help us almost redefine the east end of our city,'' he said.

Brunetti must spend between $60 million and $100 million on capital improvements before the track reopens, Bovo said, but he envisions a mecca of retail, restaurants and tourist activities on the park's 220 acres.

The gambling bill was the final piece of unfinished business in the Legislature's extended session. A vote on it will likely be held Friday, the final day of the overtime. Legislators completed the $66.5 billion budget Tuesday, leaving the gambling deal for the final hours.

In the end, it came down to pragmatism and -- the liniment for all troubles this session -- money.

Senate leaders for months had pushed for a wide expansion of gambling by offering the tribe full casinos that included roulette and craps. The state's parimutuels would have gotten new slot machines and other games to subsidize its failing horse and dog tracks and jai alai frontons.

By contrast, the more anti-gambling House wanted to expand gaming only to Hialeah, while stripping the Seminole Tribe of the blackjack and house-banked card games it currently operates. The tribe has continued to operate the games won under the previous compact, even though the Florida Supreme Court invalidated the agreement last year.

With 26 parimutuels in cutthroat competition for more gambling options, legislators ultimately decided they could not please them all. Plus, the $300 million guaranteed under the agreement for the state's cash-strapped coffers was too much to turn down.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

Comments (0)
  • Videos

  • Quick Job Search

Enter Keyword(s) Enter City Select a State Select a Category