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Legislators Make $1.5 Billion Tentative Gambling Compact With Seminoles

Posted on April 4th, 2010

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A conditional $1.5 billion gambling deal was reached by Florida legislators with the Seminole Tribe. According to the tribe’s attorney, Barry Richards, the negotiations took the whole of Friday to conclude. “It has been a long, tough job. But in the end, the result is in the best interest of the state and the tribe.

The people of Florida will benefit,” Richards said. But Richards and Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, the Legislature’s head negotiator, made it clear that the agreement must still be approved by the House, the Senate and the Seminole Tribal Council.

The compact would allow all of the tribe’s seven casinos in Florida to continue to offer Las Vegas-style slot machines. The deal would also give the tribe’s casinos in the southern part of the states including the casino in Immokalee, the Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa, and two casinos in Broward County exclusive privileges to operate blackjack.

In exchange, the tribe would make payments to the state for 20 years, giving $150 million for the first two years and the amount increasing every year thereafter. Richards said the deal assures the state of a steady flow of income “of a significant magnitude” and gives the tribe “the exclusivity and the financial security to back it up.”

Richards said there is a better chance of a final agreement this time, but since he could not make out the attitudes of the legislators, he is not assuming anything until all sides have given their formal approval. In late 2007, Gov. Crist and tribal representatives signed an agreement allowing some of the tribe’s casinos to offer blackjack. The deal was invalidated by the state Supreme Court for the reason that Crist went beyond his authority by not including the lawmakers in his talks with the tribe.

Still, even with the compact nullified by a Supreme Court ruling, the tribe’s casinos continued to operate certain games, claiming that the state has no jurisdiction to implement its laws over the Seminoles since the tribe is regarded a sovereign nation and federal authorities also have not taken any action on the violation. In 2009, lawmakers presented Crist and the tribal leaders with some terms that the legislators approved to guide both parties in drawing a new compact, but the deal reached by Crist and the tribe in the summer of that year deviated from the lawmakers’ directions, and was therefore, rejected by the House in January.