Governor Weighs His Options In Seminole Casino Battle In Florida

The Governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, has been mentioned to be on the short list of vice-presidential candidates to run on the ticket with Republican nominee John McCain.

Before he gets around to that, however, Crist will be mulling his options in dealing with a recent Supreme Court ruling in the state. The ruling was made to void a compact that Crist had signed with the Seminole Indians.

The compact was to allow the Seminoles to offer blackjack and baccarat at their casinos in Florida. They also would receive the right to have Vegas style slots, and would have exclusivity over the table games in the state.

Last week, the state Supreme Court ruled that the compact was void because the governor did not have the right to negotiate the compact. Now, the governor is weighing his options on what should be his next step.

He could appeal the ruling and hope that it is overturned, but that would take a significant amount of time. He could also try and begin talks between the Legislature in the state and the Seminoles.

The goal would be to redesign the deal to ensure that all of the Legislators egos are stroked. Most of the Legislators that sought the ruling against the compact claim to be against expanded gambling.

If the two sides got together and ironed out a deal, it would not look good for the Legislators who have already voiced their displeasure over expanded gambling. There certainly will be a way to spin a deal, however.

Something will be slightly different than the deal the governor has in place, and that will be the out clause for legislators to change their stance.

In the meantime, Governor Crist, who negotiated the deal in good faith, is going over his options. He simply wants the quickest way to recover the lost money that would have gone to the school system in the state. Finding that money in the quickest fashion is his primary goal, we'll see what he comes up with.

One thing we know for sure is he better include the legislature in his decision making process, or else he will once again be battling against them and their control issue egos.

July 9, 2008
Posted By Tom Jones
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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