Florida House tears down the Senate’s gambling bill as negotiations begin

ough it seems like Florida is finally reaching the point when it will make a decision on gambling, the Florida House has ripped the Senate’s gambling bill to shreds and passed its own version of the bill earlier this week. On Wednesday, the Florida House voted 70-30 for a bill that would “freeze” gambling across the state. Legislators have a month left to reach an agreement, giving the impression that both chambers will have to negotiate a compromise during the session’s final weeks. The Senate’s bill, sponsored by Sen. Bill Galvano, would allow slot machines at dog and horse tracks in eight counties outside of South Florida. In March, Senate members voted 32-6 in support of proposing massive expansion of the state’s gambling industry. In addition to this, it would allow the Seminole Tribe to offer craps and roulette at its casinos. The House’s measure would only allow the tribe to keep its slot machines and blackjack tables for a further 20 years, disallowing them to offer any other additional games. The bill also confines slot machines to tribal casinos and tracks in South Florida. This contentious issue has been disputed between the Seminoles and the state since 2015. The long-running dispute seems more than understandable as there is $3bn in additional money to gain from the tribe if the House’s bill passes. Now that both the Senate and the House have presented their bills, the next few weeks will play out the negotiations in the hopes of reaching a mutual agreement between the two house of the state legislature.