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Michael Peltier: You win some, you lose some

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— Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was one-for-two last week as he entered into one covenant and lost his ability to sanction another.

The 51-year-old bachelor made a proposal that doesn’t need legislative approval as he asked Carole Rome to be his wife. According to reports she immediately said yes without a conference committee being appointed.

Crist was less successful on another front, as the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday said he overstepped his bounds when he entered into a compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida to allow Las Vegas-style gambling at the tribe’s casinos throughout the state.

“We hold the governor does not have the constitutional authority to bind the state to a gaming compact that clearly departs from the state’s public policy by legalizing types of gaming that are illegal everywhere else in the state,” Justice Raoul Cantero wrote for the 7-0 opinion.

Since signing the agreement in November, the issue has put Crist at odds with some House leaders who oppose any expansion of gambling. Led by House Speaker Marco Rubio, critics said it’s up to the Legislature to approve any pact with Indian tribes.

Crist wanted to reach an accord that would translate into tax revenue for the state, which would take a cut of the winnings.

The plan called for $50 million up front and up to 25 percent of gaming proceeds. Though Crist’s goals can still be achieved, it will need the help of the lawmakers to make it happen.

Indian gaming laws going back to 1988 generally allow tribes to conduct gambling operations on their sovereign lands. It also allows them to provide games equivalent to those being offered on non-tribal lands.

Broward County voters in 2005 approved Las Vegas slot machines. Since then, tribal leaders have been negotiating with state and federal officials over expanding their own menu of games to include such machines.

Under Crist’s agreement, the tribe agreed to pay the state an as yet undefined percentage of casino revenue. Non-Indian slots approved for Broward County are taxed at 50 percent.

The proposal allowed the tribe to stop paying immediately if similar non-Indian casinos spring up outside of Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

If gambling expands in Broward and Miami-Dade, the tribe could stop payments if its net winnings drop below $1.37 billion, which is now estimated to be the tribe’s annual take.

Any agreement would have had to be approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Crist has argued that if the state didn’t make a compact, the federal government will and Florida would get nothing. The Seminoles in March filed a federal lawsuit in Miami charging that the state is not negotiating in good faith. The Miccosukee Tribe is also participating in the lawsuit.

The ruling was a victory for Rubio and Senate President Ken Pruitt, who argued that the constitution does not allow the governor to take such measures without approval.

---

Michael Peltier is the Daily News’ Tallahassee correspondent. E-mail him at mpeltier1234@comcast.net

Comments

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Great idea!
Let the feds get it all!

;-)

#1 Posted by Optipess on July 7, 2008 at 6:55 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Marriage?

I thought only in Massachusetts and California these marriages were legal. Oops!!!

#2 Posted by dooley on July 7, 2008 at 1:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)



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