Florida's gaming expansion bills appear dead as the House and Senate failed to reconcile differences over slots being allowed and pari-mutuels could end racing.
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Florida Gaming Bill
Senate Bill 840 included both of those provisions, which outlined slots in the eight counties where local referendums have approved them and pari-mutuels being allowed to end racing operations but still keep their casinos.
Michigan Gaming Bills
The House version of the bill included neither, though it did make a concession just before the deadline to allow slots in three of the counties that have approved them, the News Service of Florida reported.
Both bills would have renewed the Seminole compact for $3bn to the state over the first seven years, while outlawing designated players games at pari-mutuel card rooms and slot-like pre-reveal machines in bars.
- TALLAHASSEE — Time’s running out on reaching a gambling deal during this spring’s legislative session, but Senate President Bill Galvano said Wednesday he’s “encouraged” by the status of talks.
- Bills to ratify the gaming compact between Gov. Rick Scott and the Seminole Tribe and an accompanying bill to expand slot machines outside of South Florida were declared dead by Senate leaders.
The failure to reach an agreement comes despite pressure to get a bill passed this year as a referendum in November will essentially take gaming expansion out of the hands of the legislature and put it to statewide voters, if passed. Best online gambling games. Lucky creek casino.
Florida Gambling Bill
On June 11, 2018, Gov. Phil Murphy signed the sports betting bill that had passed the previous week. A William Hill sportsbook at Monmouth Park took the first bets on Thursday, June 14 at 10:30.
Source: Fantini’s Gaming Report
In the final week of the legislative session, a bill on the Florida Lottery could cut education funding drastically if it passes the Senate.
Michigan Gaming Bill
HB 629 from state Rep. Will Robinson, R-Bradenton, who sits on the Gaming Control Subcommittee, would prohibit the use of personal electronic devices to play, store, redeem, sell, or purchase lottery tickets or games. The bill has been added to the Senate agenda for a floor vote on Wednesday.
Florida Gambling Bill News
Robinson told Florida Politics earlier this year that he brought out the proposal to ensure Lottery tickets were sold at retailers and not online. Robinson said he was worried about “fraudulent websites” selling tickets and called for banning the purchase of Lottery tickets through smartphones.
“Once you start allowing mobile devices, you are expanding the scope of the lottery,” he told Florida Politics.
Opponents of the bill say, if the legislation is approved, the bill will slash education funding with both K-12 funding and Bright Futures scholarship on the chopping block.
According to the Revenue Estimating Conference, which calculated the fiscal impact, the bill would reduce the Florida Lottery’s support of the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund by up to $235 million a year.
In 2017, then Gov. Rick Scott veoted a much shorter version of a lottery warning label bill because it would have impacted education funding. The 2017 bill would have added short messages to lottery products such as “WARNING: GAMBLING CAN BE ADDICTIVE.”
The current bill would add lengthier warning label to lottery tickets. Florida would be the only state that has such a warning on its lottery tickets. If this bill passes, warning labels would be added to all lottery tickets that say: “WARNING: PLAYING A LOTTERY GAME CONSTITUTES GAMBLING AND MAY LEAD TO ADDICTION AND/OR COMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR. THE CHANCES OF WINNING A BIG PRIZE ARE VERY LOW.”
Portions of every Florida Lottery ticket sale gets transferred to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund (EETF)–meaning the stakes are high for education in the Sunshine State. State officials estimate that if only 7 percent of lottery players stop playing, lottery sales will be reduced by $500 million, leading to a drop of $126.5 million in education funding, ensuring around 5,000 Bright Futures scholarships in Florida would be lost to high school graduates. Education advocates across the state are expected to go all out this week to protect those funds.
Robinson’s bill overwhelmingly cleared the House on a 113-2 vote. The bill is being backed in the state Senate by Sen. Keith Perry, R-Gainesville.
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