Florida lawmakers aim to 'give Las Vegas a run for its money'
By Scott Blake
Two South Florida lawmakers plan to meet this week to iron out details of legislation to create a new resort casino industry here that would, as one state senator put it, "give Las Vegas a run for its money."
As currently being drafted, the bills would create a state gaming commission to regulate the casinos and allow the state to issue a set number of gaming licenses, most likely only for projects in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
The proposals also would set a minimum investment amount for casino projects and establish a state tax on gaming revenues.
State Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, a Fort Lauderdale Republican, and state Rep. Erik Fresen, a Miami Republican, have been working on separate bills to be introduced in the Florida House and the Senate during the legislative session slated to start in January in Tallahassee.
"We're trying to create integrated resorts," combining large hotels and other facilities with casinos," Sen. Bogdanoff says. "We don't want to build our economy on gambling. However, gaming is growing and unless we harness it for the benefits, it's just going to proliferate in other states."
Sen. Bogdanoff and Rep. Fresen say they will meet this week to complete drafts of their bills so they will be virtually identical when filed this fall.
"There's not going to be a single difference" between the bills, Rep. Fresen said. "It's the only way to have a chance of passing such a big, game-changing bill."
Both maintain that such legislation does not need voter approval and can be enacted by the Legislature with approval from Gov. Rick Scott, particularly in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, where a heightened level of gambling already is permitted.
In addition to state lottery games, gambling in Florida currently is legal at South Florida Indian casinos, greyhound tracks, horse tracks, jai-alai frontons and offshore casino cruises.
The new bills would legalize gambling targeted for South Florida on a larger, more upscale level.
Malaysia-based Genting Group's plan to build a $3 billion resort casino on the current Miami Herald site on Biscayne Bay in downtown Miami has garnered the most attention. However, several other large casino companies, including some in Las Vegas, seek big projects in South Florida, Sen. Bogdanoff and Rep. Fresen say.
Both lawmakers say Florida already is one of the nation's top gambling states although there has been political opposition to acknowledging that and allowing expansion of the industry here.
They say their bills would bring gaming more out into the open, control it and reap its benefits, including thousands of new jobs and millions of dollars in added state revenue when the economy is suffering. They maintain the benefits would far outweigh any drawbacks.
"I'm going to be blunt in the debate," Rep. Fresen says. "We already have gaming, so the debate is not whether we should game or not, but whether we are maximizing" benefits.
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