Legislators Hopeful Over Seminole Gambling Compact

Gambling News - March 3rd, 2010 - Written By Bonnie

For the second half of 2009, Florida had continued to fail at bringing a gambling compact together with the Seminole Tribe. The Tribe operates several casinos in South Florida, with the biggest of them being the Seminole Hard Rock Tampa and Fort Lauderdale.

The absence of a compact between tribe and the state meant two things. One, Florida saw less tax income than deserved, and two, table games had been operating illegally.under current Florida law.

Last year, Charlie Crist, governor of Florida, attempted to broker a deal giving the Seminole Tribe exclusivity over the card games in the casinos. In return, the Tribe would kick a percentage of revenue to the state in the form of taxes .While Crist supported his idea, the courts did not, and thus the issue was overturned. Now Florida stands on the brink or a $3 billion dollar budget deficit, with gambling taxes one of the methods that legislators are aiming to employ in order to recover from the economic slump.

Lawmakers are currently working to move forward a compact between the Seminoles and the state, though the new deal has yet to be signed by the legislature. The upper echelon of courts in state will once again have the power to over turn the legislation if they deem it so. It is expected that an agreement will be reached during the up coming sixty day session.

Unfortunately, Florida Online Gambling will not be taxed under this particular law.