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Jim RosicaMarch 1, 2016

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Their lips were saying “not dead yet” but House leadership otherwise made clear that the Seminole Compact and gambling legislation are goners for this Legislative Session. “I’m not ready to declare it dead yet,” said state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz, the Miami Republican who shepherded the bills through the process this year. Diaz spoke after […]

Jim RosicaMarch 1, 2016

Echoing a Seminole Tribe attorney earlier in the day, Senate budget chief Tom Lee opened the possibility that provisions added to the Seminole Compact to placate the state’s pari-mutuels were a “ransom” that tanked the legislation. Lee, the Brandon Republican who chairs the Appropriations Committee, spoke to reporters after his panel finished its Tuesday meeting. As the […]

Jim RosicaMarch 1, 2016

If the Seminole Compact and related legislation don’t pass this session, lawmakers will have no one to blame but themselves, the tribe’s Tallahassee-based attorney said Tuesday. Barry Richard, who represents the Seminole Tribe of Florida, blamed the apparent Tuesday morning collapse of the 2016 gambling bills on lawmakers bending over backward to appease the state’s dog […]

Jim RosicaFebruary 29, 2016

One mystery was solved after a House panel cleared the latest version of this session’s gambling legislation: state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz said language on fantasy sports play was inserted into his chamber’s bill because Gov. Rick Scott wanted it there. Diaz, a Miami Republican, spoke to reporters Monday after the Finance and Tax Committee OK’d on […]

Jim RosicaFebruary 29, 2016

A 122-page “proposed committee substitute” that dropped Sunday night on the House’s 2016 gambling legislation would keep intact the guts of the proposed Seminole Compact, while allowing for expanded gambling opportunities throughout the state. The measure, set for consideration in the House Finance and Tax Committee Monday, makes proposed revisions to the new gambling deal (HB […]

Jim RosicaFebruary 22, 2016

A business that calls itself a “designated player services company” is suing the state over its crackdown of poker-style card games at several of Florida’s horse and dog racetracks. Elevated LLC, based in Tallahassee, sued in Leon County Circuit Civil court last week seeking an injunction against the Division of Pari-mutuel Wagering “from prosecuting or […]

Jac VerSteegFebruary 17, 2016

Sen. Joe Negron’s SB 832 declares that “fantasy contests” — meaning endeavors such as DraftKings and FanDuel — “involve the skill of contest participants and do not constitute gambling, gaming or games of chance.” Negron, R-Stuart and a Senate-president-to-be, would regulate this non-gambling via a newly created Office of Amusement. It’s not “gambling,” it’s an […]

Jim RosicaFebruary 17, 2016

The Alabama-based Poarch Band of Creek Indians, which approached Gov. Rick Scott in 2014 for a deal to offer gambling in Florida, essentially offered not to press for a Las Vegas-style casino with blackjack near Pensacola if the state wouldn’t fight their efforts to just open a poker-style cardroom. In return, the Poarch Creeks would […]

Jim RosicaFebruary 10, 2016

With the half-way mark of the 60-day 2016 Legislative Session on Wednesday, the theme so far is like a line from a Frankie Valli song: “… so close/And yet so far.” Take the 2016-17 state budget, the only bill lawmakers are required to pass each year. The House came in at $79.9 billion with the Senate […]

Jim RosicaFebruary 9, 2016

As the state House of Representatives moved on its package of gambling bills Tuesday, the Senate hit pause and delayed consideration of the Seminole Compact and related legislation for another week. “My intention is to (temporarily postpone) the gaming bills today for one week to give our committee members the opportunity to digest the various amendments being filed,” state […]

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Helene, early Sept. 27. Image via NOAA via AP.

House all but declares defeat on Seminole Compact, gambling legislation

Gambling concessions to pari-mutuels same as “ransom,” Tom Lee says

Effort to appease pari-mutuels is killing Seminole Compact

Fantasy sports language in gambling bill because of Rick Scott, lawmaker says

Lawmakers file 122 pages of changes to Seminole Compact

State’s card game enforcement brings first lawsuit

Jac VerSteeg: Fantasy sports aren’t gambling? How amusing

Poarch Creek Indians offered to give up blackjack for their own gambling compact

Gut check: Legislative Session reaches midpoint

Senate punts — for now — on Seminole Compact, gambling bill