The president-designate of the Senate presided Wednesday over a nearly flawless presentation -- virtually, an orchestration -- of what gambling in Florida might look like if his Seminole Compact goes the distance.
And what it would look like represents a significant change in Florida's gaming landscape.
It includes the approval of slots at pari-mutuels in six counties -- Brevard, Gadsden, Hamilton, Lee, Palm Beach and Washington -- where voters have approved them, and in other counties if voters sign off on them down the road.
Not all members of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee liked the picture Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, painted in his series of amendments to the Senate's earlier bill. It sounded too much like gambling expansion to them -- Chairman Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, included. But Negron's revised Seminole Compact, an intricate and contentious revision of the Senate's original bill, passed with little opposition and that was an accomplishment.
Not surprisingly, it did nothing to save Florida's lucrative horse racing industry.
Certainly the legislation pretends to take care of Thoroughbred racing, tucking into it $45 million for Thoroughbred purse pools -- $20 million from the Seminoles' payments and $25 million from slots and cardroom revenues at pari-mutuels that decouple.
What was missing at the committee meeting were the horsemen. Oh, they attended, many filled out cards, but only two breeders got to speak. Horsemen include the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (8,400 licensed Thoroughbred owners and trainers), Florida Quarter Horse Racing Association, Florida Quarter Horse Breeders and Owners Association (around 1,000 members) and the Florida Standardbred Breeders and Owners Association (about 500 members). All of them strongly oppose any form of decoupling whatsoever.
The time for public comment has pretty much expired, that was the feeling in the room. The committee had decided, they'd heard all they needed to hear.
Yet, said Teresa Palmer, a Jupiter horsewoman who has attended every committee meeting, lawmakers still understand so little about the horse racing industry that they don't realize horsemen will never see the purse pool. "That money will go straight to the racetracks. Once decoupled, the tracks won't have to run races -- certainly not as many as they've had before. No races, no purses," she said.
Nothing seemed right about any of these gaming bills -- not the Senate's, not the House's. Where were Marion County's public officials? Did they lay out an economic devastation report to the committee? To state economist Amy Baker? Where were the legislators who represent the equestrian counties -- or do they only care about a casino's take?
Which brings me to Sen. Joseph Abruzzo.
I found Abruzzo's committee participation particularly unsavory. Every time he opened his mouth he might as well have been an agent for one casino or another -- particularly when he wanted to make sure Hamilton could get back the jai alai permit it had voluntarily given back.
Abruzzo, D-Wellington, has a vision of a Florida with a protective circle around Orlando, and the rest of Florida dotted with casinos if voters in each country approve.
Nothing wrong with that, I suppose, to each his own. Except, so far during the 2016 election campaign, Abruzzo has scored $5,500 from seven gaming companies: Bydsse Gaming Inc., Calder Race Course, Delaware North Companies, Hartman & Tyner Inc., Isle of Capri Casinos Inc., PPI Inc. and Hollywood Concessions Inc.
I figure casinos knew they were on a winner with Abruzzo from his contributions list during his 2012 election campaign: $8,000 from 15 casino operations, including Boyd Gaming and Entertainment, Inc., Gretna Racing LLC, Genting New York LLC, Gulfstream Park, Churchill Downs, Jacksonville Greyhound Racing, World Touch Gaming Inc., Palm Beach Kennel Club, Bonita-Fort Myers Corporation, the list goes on.
As one horse breeder told me after the meeting, "It's mighty hard to fight a deck stacked with a voting, lobbying committee member getting paid by casinos and not disclosing it."
Bill White, president of the Florida Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, said what bothers him most is the ad hoc nature of the committee meetings. "So little time left, yet this still is a work in progress. This issue is of such monumental importance to so many ...
"I can't recall even once any legislator asking how this would affect our $1.2 billion industry. ... They don't even understand that these slot permits are tied to a certain number of race dates, 40 minimum. Decoupling will eliminate that. Any reduction in race dates would be a devastating blow to Marion County in particular," he said. "And once you're decoupled, you will never get it back. Never."
Negron didn't ask horsemen anything. He likes decoupling on principle. You can't tell businesses to keep doing something that isn't working for them, he said in his summation Wednesday.
But is he sure it isn't working? Has he looked at how the money works between a pari-mutuel owner and the industry -- I mean, presented by an economist who doesn't have skin in the game?
"Just wait," says White. "If they think gambling is a mess now, it's going to be a brawl in a western movie later. They'd better beef up their legal staff. There are a couple dozen questions to be answered about how the purse pools are going to work, and we haven't heard a word about that. You can't just pull a number out a hat and hope it works."
The committee did turn down Negron's attempt to fold in fantasy sports. Committee members, Negron included, wanted the popular game kept legal, but they also wanted to make sure fantasy sports will never affect the Seminoles' payments. It was presented as a separate but attached bill.
The bare bones of the compact Gov. Rick Scott and Seminole leader James Billie signed in December, gave the tribe craps and roulette in all its casinos in exchange for a minimum $3 billion in payments to the state over seven years.
Negron told the committee, "If you have a pure compact, and that's all you have, it's not going to pass out of this committee. It's very important that we have geographic concerns echoed in the amendment, and I think we can go back to the Seminole Tribe and negotiate out a compact."
Teresa Palmer said she believes in miracles. She still holds out hope her industry will get its act together and fight back, and the Legislature will come around, recognize what an important economic engine horse racing in Florida is and do the right thing.
That miracle had better be quick. The session is more than half-way done.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
