Douglas C. Lyons Sun Sentinel Senior Editorial Writer
October 22, 2011
Somewhere deep, deep, deep in the bowels of our state capitol, someone should be making space for the commemorative busts of two state lawmakers, one of them Broward County’s very own Ellyn Bogdanoff. The Fort Lauderdale Republican is poised to become a significant “job creator.”
If you believe the hype coming out of the GOP, government doesn’t create jobs, but Bogdanoff and fellow Republican state Rep. Erik Fressen, R-Miami, didn’t get the memo. The two are putting the finishing touches on an omnibus gambling bill that, in the words of one veteran capitol staffer, ” … is the biggest money bill the Legislature’s seen in perhaps 20 years.”
The promise of heavy duty lobbying — more importantly the campaign contributions that come with it — hangs over the capitol like pollen in the springtime. Odds are the bill stalls in the Florida House its first time out, but the beauty is that passage will take time — at least two, possibly three years before lawmakers make destination casinos in Florida a reality. Talk about a stimulus package.
Douglas C. Lyons
Douglas C. Lyons
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The bill is expected to allow three new Las Vegas-styled casinos to open in Broward and Miami- Dade counties. It also creates a new government bureaucracy to regulate them. It’s the second major gambling bill, joining one filed by state Sens. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach and Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, that allows five Las Vegas-styled casino hotels spaced across the state.
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The stakes are huge. Genting East Coast USA Inc., a subsidiary of the Malaysia-based casino group, anounced plans to build a $3.5 billion resort in Miami, and the Las Vegas Sands Corp. is also eyeing Miami for a new resort. Both firms believe casino gambling will boost employment in South Florida and cement the region’s stature as a bona fide tourist destination.
Still, the salivating right now is taking place in the halls of the state capitol.
To pass legislation like the one our two South Florida Republicans are carrying, you need lobbyists, lots of lobbyists. There also will be work for attorneys to make sure any amendments, changes and tweaks pass legal muster, and how could I forget the public relations and media specialists who will be hired to either spread the good news of gambling or condemn it as another sign of the Apocalypse.
You can bet the Genting, the Sands, and any other big casino operators will have their legions of paid advocates. So will The Diplomat in Hollywood and the Fontainebleau on Miami Beach. Broward and Miami-Dade counties will be respresented, as will the parimutuels, like Gulfstream Park and the Palm Beach Kennel Club and those parimutuels who have felt shut out of Florida’s recent gaming opportunities.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida, owners of The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, are already paying the state millions as part of an ongoing gambling compact that could go away if the casinos move in. The Miccosukee are also keeping an eye on their interests.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association are just two of the heavy hitters in Tallahassee that will weigh in, and you can bet on an army of suits representing the interests of the Walt Disney Co. and the convention and tourist industry types in the Orlando area who won’t tolerate any losses in their convention and regional conference business to South Florida.
We’re talking big bucks here.
Bogdanoff can take pride in pushing a measure that in the long run will generate thousands of new jobs for Floridians, and bring some much-needed order to the hodge-podge of oversight that passes for state government regulation of gaming. Florida could use an ample dose of both jobs and oversight.
In the meantime, a part of the state capitol job market will let the good times roll. “Follow the money,” I’ve been told. “You can’t miss it.”
Douglas C. Lyons can be reached at dlyons@sunsentinel.com, or 954-356-4638. Follow him on twitter@douginflorida.
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