Florida Senate rules out casino licence for Fontainebleau Resort
Senate President Wilton Simpson has said that the special session on May 17 will not allow a casino permit to be transferred from another casino to the Fontainebleau Resort.
US.- The former Fontainebleau, now The Drew, owned by Jeff Soffer, will not get a casino licence this year, according to Senate President Wilton Simpson.
Simpson told CBS Miami that the special session of the Senate scheduled for May 17 will not consider a transfer of the casino permit from Jeff Soffer’s Big Easy Casino in Hallandale Beach to the former Fontainebleau Hotel.
“We will not contemplate moving a casino license out to the Fontainebleau,” Simpson said.
“I do not think that that’s being contemplated in this special session. I actually, I know it’s not. We put out the call yesterday and it would prohibit that type of activity.”
The Special Session will focus on the state’s new gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe.
The 75-page document will determine the long-term future of gaming in the state. The Legislature must ratify the compact before it goes into effect.
The Special Session will also address three gaming bills. Two bills of those would establish a gaming commission. The third would remove the live racing requirement for certain gaming permit holders.
