Governor Crist Signs Gambling Deal, Now Florida Waits On Seminoles

Three-fourths of the parties involved with a new casino gambling deal in Florida have now signed off. The governor of the state, Charlie Crist, put his signature on the deal on Monday. The problem, however, will be convincing the fourth party to agree.

The Seminole Indians are the last piece of the puzzle that needs to be completed for the deal to go in effect. They have expressed reluctance to do so and more negotiations should be forthcoming.

"I feel firmly that the tribe couldn't live with it and the Department of the Interior wouldn't approve it," said Barry Richard, attorney for the Seminole tribe, about the new deal. He left the door open to minor tweaks in the deal.

State lawmakers had to do some heavy compromising just to reach the deal that was signed Monday by the governor. The Senate wanted full scale casino gambling, while the House wanted less gambling.

The two sides met in the middle, allowing the Seminoles to retain blackjack at their Hollywood casino and also add it at their Coconut Creek facility. The tribe, however, wants blackjack at all of their casinos in the state.

"If we're talking about filling in details or making a policy tweak, that's not going to be very difficult," said Representative Bill Galvano, "but if the tribe expects that we would come back to the Legislature with major structural changes, I think the more appealing route would be to just let the feds enforce."

June 15, 2009
Posted By Terry Goodwin
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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