News
State Chamber forms ‘Bad Bet’ coalition to fight casino bill
Jan 10, 2012 - Florida Current
A day after legislation to bring three destination casino resorts to Florida passed its first committee, one of the bill’s biggest detractors, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, announced the formation of the Bad Bet for Florida Coalition to combat the bill.
The coalition includes business owners, but also boasts heavy-hitting elected officials who have already announced their opposition to SB 710 and HB 487 – Attorney General Pam Bondi, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, and Rep. Steve Precourt, R-Orlando.
After undergoing significant changes, including extra protections for pari-mutuels and regulation of Internet sweepstakes cafes, the bill passed through its first Senate committee Monday.
Rep. Scott Plakon, R-Longwood, a vehement opponent of the cafes also called storefront casinos, had been on the sidelines of the overall casino debate, but joined the coalition Tuesday after the Senate opted to regulate, rather than ban the Internet-based enterprises.
“Now, they’ve proposed an amnesty bill for these storefront casinos that essentially — they came into our state six or seven years ago and the attorney general and most of the prosecutors and sheriffs believe that they’re illegal — so now the notion that we’re going to grant amnesty and encourage that type of behavior, I found that I needed to stand here today,” Plakon said.
As a member of the House Business and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee, Plakon will review the House version of the bill during a workshop meeting Wednesday.
Mark Wilson, president and CEO of the Chamber, denounced the casino bill as bringing more crime to the state and warned the large casinos would “cannibalize” surrounding businesses.
“Mega-casinos in Florida don’t add jobs. Over the long term, they cost,” Wilson said.
But the business lobby’s local counterpart, the Miami Chamber of Commerce, doesn’t think that way, opting to support the bill in a recent vote provided it includes revenue guarantees for local areas.
A new poll out Tuesday also showed that Floridians disagree with the Chamber, supporting the destination casino concept by a 48-43 percent margin.
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