"It’s the first time we’ve had a gaming bill on the floor since 2010,” said Senator Bill Galvano, the Senate’s lead negotiator on gaming issues. "Something’s happening.”
The Senate gave preliminary approval Wednesday to SB 8, and it is expected to be approved by the full Senate on Thursday. The measure would give Miami-Dade and Broward counties each an additional slot casino, the Seminole Tribe would have seven full-scale casinos, and horse and dog tracks in at least eight counties would get new slot parlors.
By contrast, the House Commerce Committee is expected on Thursday to approve its gambling bill, PCB TGC 17-01, which would reenact the current gaming compact that gives the tribe the exclusive right to slot machines outside of Miami-Dade and Broward and blackjack at their South Florida casinos in exchange for US$ 3 billion in payments to the state over seven years.
If approved, the Senate plan would amount to about US$ 525 million in first-year revenues, and revenues after that could amount to about US$ 450 million, Galvano said.
