Florida Senate and House Pursues Two Different Gaming Proposals
On April 6th, 2009, the state of Florida already has casino gaming. What legislators in the state Senate and House are trying to do accomplish is figure out how much gaming should be expanded in Florida. There are different options in the issue.
Top state economists gave their opinion on the total amount of money that could be produced under both a Senate proposal and House proposal. State economists added that the figures for both proposals were in the hundreds of millions. The Senate proposal would permit full scale casino gaming to the Seminole casino facilities in the state of Florida. Under the proposal, pari-mutuel facilities would also get the opportunity to offer blackjack.
The Seminole tribe will be able to continue to offer their players baccarat and blackjack as well as the games of craps and roulette. But the House plan does not go to the extent of the Senate gaming plan. The House plan states that the Seminole Tribe would be permitted to offer Las Vegas style slot machines but would have to refrain from offering the card games.
Florida's Revenue Estimating Conference concluded that the Senate plan would earn $504 million in revenue to Florida in the first year. The House plan would earn $257.2 million in the first year. State economists said that whichever gaming plan becomes law and it could be a combination of both gaming plans, Florida would benefit from expanding casino gaming.
2009-04-22
David M. Bedingfield
