Ryan Ray
Reports of the death of Dana Young‘s new gaming legislation are greatly exaggerated, according to the House Majority Leader. Despite speculation that the Tampa Republican may alter or even withdraw her ambitious plan from consideration, Young tells Florida Politics that her proposal will be workshopped at a Capitol meeting on March 26.
Young’s plan — consisting of three linked House bills, HB 1233, HB 1235 and HB 1237 — has been labeled by opponents as a straight expansion of gambling, though the proposed changes wouldn’t necessarily generate more gambling at more casinos on its own.
Anti-gambling group No Casinos President John Sowinski called the bill “the biggest expansion of gambling in Florida history,” setting the stage for “wall-to-wall casino gambling in Florida.”
Young has, incidentally, said exactly the opposite, telling reporters at a pre-Session press conference that it provides for an “unprecedented contraction.”
In any case, we’ll know more about who stands where within Leader Young’s caucus when the (likely) House Regulatory Affairs Committee meets next week.
Committee Chairman Rep. Jose Diaz, a Miami Republican, is seen as even-handed when it comes to gaming and the outcome for Young’s bills — opposed by groups backing a seemingly unlikely renewal of the Seminole Indian compact — once they come to a vote is still very much in doubt.
