Politics, controversial legislative maneuvering and big-money special interests were on full display during a Senate hearing Thursday. What brought them together? Florida’s “eyeball wars.”
As she spoke to the modest gathering of reporters and onlookers, Candi Fisher turned to her left and gave a public thank you to the man in the dark suit standing behind her.
Lawmakers on Thursday sent a message to opponents of Internet sweepstakes cafés — don’t bet on a ban yet.
This session, there will be many issues discussed by the Florida Legislature, and while reapportionment and the budget will undoubtedly be the two most significant challenges before us, the question of whether Florida should expand gambling seems to be leading the headlines.
Gov. Rick Scott, the outsider who at one point railed against the political establishment, may soon start getting the kind of control that was never bestowed on Florida’s previous chief executives.
Backers of a controversial plan to bring high-end destination-casino resorts to Florida initially billed it as a way to limit gambling in the state. But the measure has since morphed into a behemoth of a bill that could spread slot machines — if not casinos — to every corner of the Sunshine State.
A heated, special interest-saturated debate over gambling swept through the Capitol last week.
The gambling bill that would allow three casinos to open in Florida remains stalled in the House after a second workshop on the proposal Wednesday.
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.
Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, expects the highly controversial destination gaming bill to reach the Senate floor for a full “up or down” vote.