The Florida House of Representatives quietly released its gambling overhaul for 2017 Thursday afternoon, setting it for a hearing next Thursday. <\/p>\n
As expected, the 81-page bill (PCB TGC 17-01) includes arenewed blackjackdeal, or compact, between the state and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, as first struck by Gov. Rick Scott. <\/p>\n
No Casinos, the gambling expansion group, soon tweeted: Still analyzing bill, but at first blush @MyFLHouse seems to have found a way to renew compact without turning FL into Vegas\/Atlantic City. <\/p>\n
But the House already is at odds with the Senates 112-page measure (SB 8), which is set for its second and last committee hearing next week before the Appropriations panel. <\/p>\n
In onesignificant example, the House bill outlaws designated-player card games, but the Senate wouldlet all cardroom operators offer designated player games. <\/p>\n
In banked card games, players betagainst the house, or the casino, and not each other. In traditional poker,people play against each other for a pot of money.Designated-player games area hybrid, where the bank is supposed to revolve among the players. <\/p>\n
Moreover, the House would prohibit the expansion of slot machines, retroactively to Jan. 1 of this year, by barring state regulators from issuing any new slots licenses. <\/p>\n
The Senate generally expands theavailability of slot machines, including allowingany licensed pari-mutuel facility toget slots. <\/p>\n
Last month, House Speaker Richard Corcoran suggestedhis chambers approach to gambling would be different. <\/p>\n
Ive seen the (Senate) bill, and look, its not where were at, Corcoran told reporters. The three things weve said are, it has to be a contraction (of gambling) we want a constitutional amendment that bans the expansion of gaming; the Senates said they have no interest and we have courts that keep encroaching upon our ability to make those decisions. <\/p>\n
TheHouseTourism & Gaming Control Subcommittee will hear the bill next Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in a meeting scheduled for two and a half hours. Its chair, St. Cloud Republican Mike La Rosa, could not be immediately reached. <\/p>\n
And the Senate Appropriations Committee will hear its chambers bill that same day at 9 a.m. <\/p>\n
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House gambling bill teed up for next week - SaintPetersBlog (blog)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Florida House of Representatives quietly released its gambling overhaul for 2017 Thursday afternoon, setting it for a hearing next Thursday. Continue reading