The passage, which will undoubtedly face legal challenges, is a big win for Gov. Ron DeSantis, who personally lobbied state lawmakers to approve the deal. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Florida lawmakers hand DeSantis another win with approval of gambling deal
TALLAHASSEE — Florida's Republican-controlled Legislature on Wednesday approved a sweeping gambling deal that will bring sports betting to the nation's third largest state for the first time.
The passage, which will undoubtedly face legal challenges, is a big win for Gov. Ron DeSantis, who personally lobbied state lawmakers to approve the deal. It also caps a series of legislative victories for DeSantis on issues ranging from clamping down on Big Tech, elections and racial justice protesters. The overwhelming approval of the gambling deal, however, didn't come without some concessions and last-minute lobbying by the governor.
Florida legislators approved a 30-year deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that will let the tribe offer sports betting, add craps and roulette to its existing casinos, and build three new casinos on the tribe’s Hollywood reservation that is already home to the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
The deal comes after a decade’s worth of acrimony and lawsuits that resulted in the tribe halting payments to the state that had been promised as part of a 2010 gambling pact between the state and the tribe. The newly approved compact, as it is also knows, promises that the tribe will pay $2.5 billion to Florida over the first five years.
“Today, all the people of Florida are winners,” said Marcellus Osceola Jr., chair of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. “It is a historic and mutually-beneficial partnership between the state and Seminole Tribe that will positively impact all Floridians for decades to come.”
The Florida House voted 97-17 for the deal, with several Republicans among the no votes. It came one day after the Senate overwhelmingly approved the agreement with the tribe by a 38-1 vote. The vote was expected to usher in the end of the special session.
A handful of Democrats publicly objected to the compact, contending the 30-year agreement was too long and that it would also open the door to future casinos potentially in Miami Beach or at the Doral resort owned by former President Donald Trump.
But opponents also contended the compact was legally suspect because it would allow anyone in the state to use their phones to place bets. Voters in 2018 approved a citizen initiative that requires voter approval to the expansion of casino gambling.
"We are expanding gambling whether you want to try to dance around what that looks like,” said state Rep. Nicholas Duran, a Miami Democrat.ne special session that began on Monday.
House Democrats tried to force a floor vote on how the billions from the Seminole deal will be spent, arguing that the money should be dedicated to substance abuse and mental health treatment, among other areas.
“We don’t need more tax breaks for rich guys or the corporations that rich guys own,” said state Rep. Joe Geller (D-Aventura). “We have people that are hurting for it.”
But House Republicans contended the amendments were out of order and avoided having their members go on record to criticize them.
The compact cannot take effect until it is reviewed and approved by the U.S. Department of Interior, but once it’s greenlighted a legal challenge is guaranteed. No Casinos, the group that helped push the 2018 amendment, has already promised to mount a legal fight.
“This fight is just beginning,” said No Casinos President John Sowinski in a statement. “We are committing to ensuring the will of the people, who voted by a 72 [percent] landslide to give Florida voters the exclusive right to authorize casino gambling in our state, will be respected.”
Even House Republicans supporting the legislation admitted they were not sure if the sports betting portion would survive scrutiny by the courts.
“It is an open question,” said Rep. Sam Garrison (R-Fleming Island).
Rep. Randy Fine, a Brevard County Republican, said he thought a court would rule against the state on sports betting, but pointed out that the state will still collect money for other parts of the compact even if that happens.
“This is a good deal for the state,” Fine said. “You can feel good about voting for it.”
DeSantis negotiated with the deal with the tribe over the last few months and presented it to legislators in late April. House Republicans, however, pushed to have the compact decided in a stand-alone special session that began on Monday.
On the first day of the special session dedicated to passing the agreement the Republican governor and tribal leaders also agreed to jettison a contentious provision on online gambling to win over backing from key Republicans such as House Speaker Chris Sprowls.
This change came after DeSantis personally lobbied hesitant Republican legislators on Saturday to support the compact.
“With this new compact, the state will now see a large stream of reoccurring revenue to the tune of billions of dollars over the next few years,” DeSantis said in a statement. “The deal will also create over 2,000 jobs.”
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