TALLAHASSEE — After the loss of about $350 million a year in payments from the Seminole Tribe of Florida, House and Senate leaders are rethinking the state’s approach to gambling, one of the Legislature’s most complicated issues.

The shift in direction could be good news for the state’s pari-mutuel operators.

“What we need to start doing is looking at what’s available to us on the private side of the equation, versus just the compact,” said Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton.

House Speaker José Oliva said he agrees with Galvano, who was the Legislature’s chief negotiator in a deal between the state and the tribe, called a “compact,” signed in 2010.

Even so, passage of a sweeping gambling bill during the upcoming legislative session, which begins in January, remains a long shot.

Successful gambling legislation “has suffered from its own complexity and its many layers for years,” said Oliva, R-Miami Lakes.

“And I don’t think that this year will be terribly different. We do have a governor that has fresh eyes and wants to see all of the options, and we have in President Galvano somebody that understands the issue in depth and wants to explore all options, and I’m certainly open to it as well,” he added.

The Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis this spring were unable to seal a deal between the Seminoles and the state aimed at resolving a protracted legal battle over controversial designated player card games operated by many Florida pari-mutuels.

A federal judge found the games violated a compact between the tribe and the state in which the Seminoles agreed to pay about $350 million a year in exchange for the exclusive rights to operate banked card games, such as blackjack, at most of its Florida casinos.

Sen. Wilton Simpson, a Trilby Republican scheduled to take over as Senate president next year, worked out a tentative agreement with the tribe during the 2019 legislative session. Under that proposal, the Seminoles would have paid the state at least $500 million a year, in exchange for a number of conditions, including a pledge that the state would shut down the pari-mutuels’ lucrative designated player games.

But DeSantis refused to sign off, saying he needed more time to explore the issues.
In May, the Seminoles told the governor they would stop making the annual payments to the state “until the illegal banked card game issue is resolved,” referring to the designated player games.

By then, the House and Senate had already decided not to include the tribe’s annual revenue-sharing payments in the state’s $92 billion budget.

Galvano, a lawyer, said the state can live without the money from the compact.

“The underlying point is, financially, we’ve moved on from the tribe. We didn’t rely on the revenue share last budget and there’s no reason to believe we have to recreate that revenue share going forward,” Galvano said. “If we’re not getting revenue, there’s no reason to provide exclusivity (to operate banked card games).''

Instead of focusing on how much the tribe will pay for exclusivity, Galvano and Oliva are open to examining how much the state could reap if the Legislature delivers on the pari-mutuels’ wish list.

Items on the table include codifying the designated player games, increasing bet limits and authorizing sports betting and fantasy sports, Galvano said. He’s also willing to consider other perks for pari-mutuel operators.

Lawmakers should “start looking at all those other opportunities, because if we can operate without the cloud of exclusivity and increase revenues for the state of Florida, then let’s do it,” Galvano said.

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