The battle over "destination resorts" in Florida is pitting two of the state's largest business organizations against each other, with one rejecting a casino company's $25,000 check and bid for membership.
An aggressively pro-gaming stance by the Associated Industries of Florida has renewed speculation about AIF's agenda and members.
Erika Alba, who chairs the AIF's board of directors, is public affairs director at Foley & Lardner, a law firm that lobbies for the Genting Group, a gaming company vying to build "the world's largest" hotel-casino in Miami.
But AIF officials point out that their casino crusade pre-dated Alba's chairmanship.
The full AIF board votes on all association positions. Our position on destination resorts this year is consistent with positions taken in prior years by previous AIF boards," said Jennifer Fennell, spokeswoman for AIF.
"Any assertion that a single member of AIFs board guides the associations positions is patently false," Fennell said.
Meanwhile, the Florida Chamber of Commerce continues to tilt in the opposite direction -- rejecting any casino expansion.
The Florida Chamber has a longstanding position, dating back to the early 1990s, opposing the expansion of gambling. Our position is not for sale," said chamber spokeswoman Edie Ousley.
That didn't deter the Genting Group, however.
In September, Jessica Hoppe, general counsel and vice president of government affairs for Genting's Resorts World Miami, handed a $25,000 check to Allan Bense, then-chairman of the Chamber's board of directors, in a bid to join the organization.
"Genting offered a five-figure check to join the Chamber. That check was promptly returned," with no membership granted, Ousley said.
Hoppe would not comment on that aborted exchange and declined to say whether Genting belonged to AIF, which does not disclose its membership rolls.
Through spokeswoman Valerie Wickboldt, Hoppe said:
Resorts World Miami has many strategic partnerships in the state with organizations that are genuinely pro-business and pro-job creation. These partnerships are critical, especially given the powerful special interests seeking to block legislation that would create tens of thousands of jobs through common-sense gaming reform.
AIF actively supports House Bill 487, which would authorize up to three destination resort casinos in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
The Malaysia-based Genting and Las Vegas Sands are among the gaming companies promoting the legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, and Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale.
In a Thursday news release -- headlined "AIF Puts Lobbying Muscle Behind Destination Resorts Legislation" -- AIF affirmed that passage of the casino bill will be among its top priorities at the 2012 Legislature.
Bringing the destination resorts industry to Florida would be the greatest job creator in the states recent history," said Brewster Bevis, AIF vice president of external relations.
"With this kind of potential, a single industry could help us move approximately 10 percent of our states jobless off the unemployment rolls and we could get paychecks in the hands of tens of thousands of people within the next 12 months.
Bevis added, This will also help alleviate the burden of a 150 percent increase in unemployment compensation taxes facing half a million employers across the state."
The Chamber's Ousley countered:
Theres never a good time for a bad idea, and betting Floridas future on expanded gambling is a very bad idea.
"We remain focused on our goal of securing Floridas future and helping return Florida to the No. 1 private-sector job creator in the nation," Ousley said.
If anti-gamers are dubious about an executive for a gaming lobbyist chairing AIF's board, pro-gamers may wonder about a chamber board now headed by Anthony Connelly, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.
Disney, along with most of Florida's tourist industry, is a staunch foe of casino expansion.
Ousley suggested that the two scenarios are entirely different.
"Disney has been a member since the 1970s. There's a long period of consistency," she said.
Unlike AIF, which does not divulge its board membership, the Chamber lists its board members on its website.
Going forward, the opposing stands of two of the state's top business organizations put Florida politicians squarely in the middle.
House leaders, many hailing from Central Florida, remain suspicious of gaming. Senate leadership is believed to be more amenable to casino expansion, but that's no sure bet.
Keeping his cards close to the vest, Gov. Rick Scott is maintaining a wait-and-see attitude while the titans of industry battle it out.
Reach Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
