DFS legalisation hopes fade with failure of Florida bill

A new gambling bill in Florida won’t be approved any time soon as legislators have declared the negotiations between both houses “dead”.

US.- Florida lawmakers have announced that negotiations for a new gambling law in the state are “dead” for this legislative session. Since it will conclude next Friday, expanding the industry have failed once again as well as the efforts to legalise DFS that won’t progress even with standalone bills still on the table.

Some key legislators from both the state House and the Senate have confirmed that they couldn’t work out an agreement in order to progress on gambling regulation. On Tuesday, Representative Jose Felix Diaz told reporters that the parties were still “too far apart.” The Senate introduced a proposal to authorise slot machines at pari-mutuel racing operators outside South Florida but the House wanted to restrict them to Miami-Dade and Broward counties and this seems to be the big divide among lawmakers.

According to State Senator Bill Galvano, the failed agreement implies that the slots issue will be sorted out at court. Despite the Florida Supreme Court recent ruling that favoured a constitutional amendment that would give voters the “exclusive right to decide whether to authorize casino gambling”, another case that’s still pending will decide if Broward and Miami-Dade counties can monopolise slots facilities or not.

Gambling uncertainty not only affects slots and DFS but it also involves the Seminole Tribe’s financial obligations to the state. The Florida Legislature has shown favor to approving a new gaming compact for the tribe which would guarantee the state a US$3 billion cut of gaming revenue from the Seminole’s casinos.

The tribe has accused the state (and has been supported by federal courts) of violating the monopoly that they have over house-banked card games by permmiting the offer of “designated-player” games. However, Seminoles keep paying around US$20 million monthly in order to show their good will to solve any problems with the state.

There has been some speculation about what might happen after the latest failure of a gambling bill. Attorney Barry Richard, a tribe’s counselor has told Florida Politics’ Jim Rosica that the Seminoles would “react accordingly” to said failure. He added that they might stop paying if the state fails to shut those games down.