McCollum Opposing Tribal Slot Machines

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has filed suit to stop the start of a slot machine compact signed by the Seminole Tribe and Florida Governor Charlie Crist. McCollum is trying to get the U.S. Department of the Interior to hold on validating the slot machine deal until it is decided whether or not Crist can make such a deal without the legislature’s approval.

The slot machine compact signed between the tribe and the state would be for 25 years, and Crist signed the deal on his own without input from Florida lawmakers. McCollum holds that the Florida Legislature must give their permission before any kind of slot machine compact is signed within the state. He is waiting for the State Supreme Court to make their ruling.

McCollum says that it is up to the state to decide the matter before the government forces the slot machine pact upon them. He is not alone in his misgivings as House Speaker Marco Rubio also agrees that the Legislature should have a say in whether or not the terms of the slot machine compact are agreeable to those in the state.

The Seminoles have been trying for about 16 years for the state to allow them to bring in slot machines, but have been blocked at every turn. When Jeb Bush was in office, he continued to hold them off, even after it became federal law that they were allowed the slot machines. Once Broward County legalized them, they gave the tribe the right to have them as well.

The new deal will give them their slot machines as well as table games like blackjack and baccarat, in return for a portion of the proceeds to come to the state. The plan guarantees at least $100 million a year back to the state of Florida, and as revenues increase so would the amount the state gets.


 

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