King blasts Hialeah's 'better than whole' deal

The Florida Senate voted 31-9 for the gambling bill after Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville, took "some umbrage" for what we've done for Hialeah Race track. Under the bill, the historic race course is revived, allowed to race quarterhorses, eventually thoroughbreds and run slot machines within two years.

 "We have a facility that has never ever comported itself to making deals...I go back 10,000 years and I still remember the scars,'' he said, a reference to Hialeah owner John Brunetti whom King believes has backed down on agreements of the past. "Not only are they in the mix, but they are also given the opportunity to run slots...

"My hat goes off to the Miami-Dade delegation...but that doesn't make it right. You have an entity here that has paid no money whatesover and now they're not only going to be whole but better than whole.''

"That doesn't make it right for those of us who've been here and who have seen what's right..I only hope...that this track and this owner will comply with good intentions.''

With gamble deal cooked, Seminoles say they hope to accept it

As Florida lawmakers put the final touches on a gambling compact and parimutuel agreement, Seminole leader Max B. Osceola Jr. said he was awaiting the legislation -- due out this morning -- but was optimistic.

At 10:10 p.m. last night, Osceola released the following statement:

“We sincerely appreciate the tireless efforts by the Governor and the  leaders of the Florida Legislature to agree on the terms of a bill.  With this agreement, the Governor can now finalize a Compact with the 
Seminole Tribe of Florida.

Photo: Gov. Charlie Crist, Tribal leader Max Osceola, Tribe lawyer Jim Shore at the House/Senate conference committee Wednesday.

As gamble talks stall, Crist and Kottkamp show up at meeting

For the second time Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp arrived at the conference committee meeting on gambling to let them know “obviously this is important to the governor and we want them to continue moving it along.’’ Just as the meeting began, Gov. Charlie Crist arrived as well, after speaking with the key negotiators, Sen. J.D. Alexander and Rep. Bill Galvano, earlier in the day.

"I'm encouraged that they continued to work hard,'' Crist said.

Despite the hard work, the rift was still wide between the House and Senate approaches to authorizing slot machines and card games at the Seminole Tribe casinos and expanding gambling for parimutuels around the state. .

Negotiators met in three conference committee meetings Tuesday, making minimal progress on proposals.  But they remained firmly divided on the big tickets items -- whether to allow the tribe to operate black jack and banked card games exclusively at its facilities.

The Senate had offered earlier in the day by agreeing to limit card games at the tribal casinos to only blackjack at the tribe's Immokalee, Brighton and Coconut Creek reservations. But Rep. Bill Galvano, the lead House negotiator, rejected that approach, saying that it doesn't limit the tribal games enough.

"It wasn't a real move away from banked card games,'' Galvano said. "When we came into this, banked card games were not legally authorized at tribal facilities and...the tribe still went ahead and put them in Tampa. So that creates a lot of angst for the House of Representatives.''

He noted that since it was the House that brought the suit against the governor, challenging the validity of allowing him to authoriize card games that were illegal in Floirda, "we have to be very careful that we don't reward bad behavior.''

Galvano: 'I'm waiting for Senate's counter' on gambling

As legislators finished up their budget negotiations Monday, the focus shifted to the next major issue still left undone: the gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe. 

"We are still where we were when we made our counter offer on Friday,'' said Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, the lead House gambling negotiator. "I’m actually waiting for the Senate to come forward with its counter proposal. There have been no discussions.''

But with man-of-the-hour, Sen. J.D. Alexander, still tied up in the nitty-gritty of 12 conforming bills, Senate staff says it's unlikely there will be a gambling meeting today. Alexander appears to be the only one assigned the task of negotiating the budget deal.

"It's a one-man show in the Senate,'' said Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, who is waiting to get with Alexander to discuss tobacco issues and her pitch for a sales tax holiday.

Alexander said Monday he was optimistic, noting they completed a 500-page appropriations bill over the weekend. "If we can do that, we can get this finished.''

Gambling talks on hold until after budget deal

Left on lawmakers' to-do list are talks to consider expanding casino gambling, and Senate budget chief JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales, says those talks won't start before Monday.

Alexander said he told Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, that he "can't focus" on the complicated gambling issues at the same time as he holds all-day negotiations on the state budget.

The House and Senate remain widely divided on how to approach the Seminole gambling agreement while also considering appeals by race tracks and jai alai frontons around the state for more gambling options to better compete with the tribe's growing gaming empire. More background here.

Fold or check? Jones says bump up negotiations

UPDATE: After the House presented its first offer, Sen. Dennis Jones said the final agreement on gambling will now be settled by House Speaker Larry Cretul and Senate President Jeff Atwater.

That's a problem considering how far apart they are. Here's the House offer:

* Seminoles would get blackjack at its South Florida casinos but only Class III slot machines outside of those counties for a guaranteed minimum of $200 million.

* Pari-mutuels in Miami Dade and Broward would NOT get blackjack and no one would get additional electronic gaming.

* Hialeah could get a quarterhorse track and substitute half of its races with thoroughbreds but would have to operate a full schedule of live racing. It would get poker rooms but no slot machines.

* Palm Beach and Volusia jai alai could become dog tracks.

* Tax rate on slot machines would drop from 50 percent to 35 percent as long as the state collected $117 million it earned this year; if not they operators would have to make up the difference, no matter how long they have had slot machines

* Compact term would be 15, not 25 years

Atwater admits: Gambling will be a 'very hard lift'

Senate President Jeff Atwater tonight all but conceded the gambling bills could be abandoned this legislative session.

"In the end, the state could press on without closure at this moment,'' he said at a press availability tonight.

"I thought this would be the most difficult conference committee to find its common ground,'' Atwater said. "I have really thought from the outset this was going to be a very tough challenge to come together and make this work....I think it is a reality that it is going to be a very very hard lift.''

Dems want Charlie Crist's Seminole gambling money in education

What happened to using gambling money to fund cash-strapped schools?

That was the Florida House Democrats' reaction to the news Wednesday and late Tuesday that any dollars from Gov. Charlie Crist's proposed Seminole gaming compact would be used to fill drained state savings accounts -- instead of boosting funding for K-12 education.

The Legislature still has to approve the gaming deal, which would give the Seminole Tribe a monopoly on some slot machines outside of Miami-Dade and Broward. But pulling it out of the education pot means the state budget can be passed without it -- and gambling opponents, particularly in the anti-gaming House, can vote against it without looking like they're voting against education.

"This is shameful because the only reason many people support an expansion of gambling is because they are told it will help Florida's education system," Rep. Martin Kiar, a Davie Democrat, said in a statement.

Supporters of the compact -- which Crist unveiled to much fanfare earlier this month -- say it could provide a more dedicated source of income for schools, which depend on plunging property and sales tax revenues. Opponents have called it short-sighted.

Will gambling bills fall apart? Are historic games slot machines?

With the future of gambling in Florida still unresolved, lawmakers are considering giving the state's struggling horse and dog tracks a new video-style gaming machine to help them attract new business.

''Historic racing'' games operate on computerized machines that replay previously run, but unidentifiable, races that viewers can bet on as though they are live simulcast races.

House and Senate negotiators met for 9 minutes this morning to begin the formal process of settling their differences on two very different gambling bills. They picked a chairman: Sen. Dennis Jones. But with the budget agreement devoid of any gambling money, the prospects look grim for a resolution this session.

If there is one, many lawmakers say the new games might offer some middle ground for the two sides, and the games would not be opposed by the Seminole Tribe. The Senate proposal now gives horse and dog tracks and jai alai frontons outside of Miami-Dade and Broward counties the ''historic racing'' games to help increase purses and attract higher stakes races. More here.

House gambling offer ignores Seminole's deal

In a move that says to the governor: "Never mind,'' the House budget leaders have offered the Senate a gambling deal that Senate leaders are seriously considering.

It takes up none of the $600 million in loan money offered by the Seminole Tribe but relies on $400 million in gambling money next year -- including the $288 million already owed by the Seminole Tribe, plus $100 million more for giving them exclusive operation of Class III slot machines outside of Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Read full story on the Gov. Charlie Crist/Seminole gambling deal here.

The House offer expands gambling in the form of $10 million in instant "historical racing" slots-style machines, and allows for the expansion of quarter horse gaming in the state.

The proposal is part of the latest House offer No. 4, which includes House concessions in restoring $100 million in the transporation trust fund and no pay reductions for university and community college personnel.

Meanwhile, details continue to emerge on the Seminole offer. As the Herald/Times reported in today's papers, the deal would require a trust be established and the loan costs would be deducted from the tribe's revenue sharing payments to the state.

"The only way the tribe can do this is to borrow money.'' said Barry Richard, the tribe's lawyer. "It can't  be considered indebtedness of the tribe.''

This is serious money, he said. "Anybody who is under the misconception that the tribe is posturing is wrong,'' he said.