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Jim RosicaMay 2, 2017

The Seminole Tribe of Florida “will react accordingly” to the demise of a gambling bill this Legislative Session, the Tribe’s top outside lawyer said Tuesday. Chief negotiators for the House and Senate said earlier Tuesday they wouldn’t resolve their differences over the legislation before the scheduled end of the 2017 Legislative Session on Friday. When asked whether the Tribe plans […]

Jim RosicaApril 25, 2017

The House will make its offer Wednesday morning in the Legislature’s negotiation on a gambling bill this year, state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz told reporters Tuesday night. “I expect to make significant progress in the conversation,” he said, without offering many details and saying the House’s offer was still in flux. “The earlier we get it […]

Jim RosicaDecember 8, 2016

A Seminole Tribe of Florida spokesman Thursday declined comment on whether the tribe would stop payment to the state from its blackjack revenue. A source close to the tribe told FloridaPolitics.com on Wednesday that it’s considering not paying “one more dollar” to the state treasury without a new gambling agreement. According to a federal judge, it […]

Jim RosicaSeptember 29, 2016

With less than a week before a trial over their blackjack games begins, the Seminole Tribe of Florida has removed James E. Billie as tribal chairman. Billie was ousted Wednesday in a 4-0 vote of the tribe’s governing council, Law 360 reported, citing “various issues with policies and procedures of the chairman’s office.” Gary Bitner, spokesman for […]

Jim RosicaMarch 23, 2016

With a proposed $3 billion gambling deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida having died this past legislative session, the tribe’s lawyer on Tuesday said its fight to keep blackjack in tribal casinos now moves to a federal court. Barry Richard, a Greenberg Traurig shareholder based in Tallahassee, is representing the tribe in a case against […]

Jim RosicaNovember 20, 2015

Legislation is moving in the Legislature that would allow people to buy their lottery tickets at the gas pump despite a lingering question that the measure is an expansion of gambling. The question is more than moral or academic: Expanded gambling is a condition for the Seminole Tribe of Florida to stop sharing revenue from its […]

Jim RosicaNovember 19, 2015

A prominent gambling-law expert is suggesting that the state has other pressure points to apply to the Seminole Tribe of Florida in an ongoing fight over offering blackjack at its casinos, including going after it with organized crime laws. Prof. I. Nelson Rose of California’s Whittier Law School said he first offered that advice to the Senate […]

Jim RosicaNovember 18, 2015

An anti-gambling expansion organization is asking Gov. Rick Scott to jettison “gambling expansion scenarios as a part of the compact renewal” with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, according to a letter released Wednesday. John Sowinski, president of Orlando-based No Casinos, wrote to Scott on Tuesday, sending copies to legislative leaders. The state is deadlocked with the tribe over renewing a […]

Associated PressOctober 26, 2015

The Seminole Tribe of Florida now is asking a federal judge to let it keep blackjack at its casinos across the state. Florida and the tribe signed a deal in 2010 but the provision that allows blackjack and other banked card games expires at the end of this month. The tribe is supposed to remove […]

Jim RosicaOctober 14, 2015

Representatives of the Seminole Tribe of Florida have been meeting secretly with Gov. Rick Scott and his staff this week as the deadline grows near for a new deal for the tribe to continue offering blackjack and other card games at its casinos. The two sides met Tuesday, as first reported by the Miami Herald, and again […]

Tag: Gary Bitner

Lawyer: Seminole Tribe ‘will react accordingly’ to gambling bill’s death

Jose Felix Diaz: House will ‘take giant step’ in gambling conference

Seminoles still paying state blackjack money—for now

James E. Billie ousted as head of state’s Seminole Tribe

Seminole Tribe’s lawyer now watching court cases after Compact’s demise

Is it “expanding gambling” to sell lottery tickets at gas pumps?

Gambling expert says Seminoles may run afoul of organized crime laws

No Casinos tells Rick Scott to leave expansion out of gambling talks

Seminole Tribe sues state over blackjack

Seminole Tribe secretly meets with Rick Scott over blackjack