No Casinos in Florida This Year

Unfortunately for residents of Florida it seems that this year won’t bring casino hotels to the state.

Last week Florida’s house speaker and senate president said that destination casinos and other gambling issues aren’t a legislative priority this year. For over two years Las Vegas Sands and Genting have been lobbying the Florida Legislature to allow full-gambling casinos. However, so far their attempts have been unsuccessful.

House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, said that he wants to leave the issue of gambling expansion up to voters, “Unless we can do that, I don’t think you’ll see us take up gaming in the House.”

Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek, said that the statements from Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz are “not that much different from what they’ve been saying all along. You can’t make anything out of it.”

Waldman, who is president of the National Council of Legislators of Gaming States, said that Florida’s gambling laws are full of inconsistencies and need to be cleaned up. He went on to say that with medical marijuana on the ballot, which is likely to increase Democratic turnout at the polls, an amendment that would slow gambling could bring out more Republicans and increase Gov. Rick Scott’s chances of re-election.