Las Vegas Sands readies push for casinos in North Florida
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Florida Voters in Charge submitted both proposed amendments to the Florida Secretary of State, which oversees the state Division of Elections.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — (The video above is from a related report out of Texas by KHOU)
A political committee bankrolled by Las Vegas Sands Corp. has drafted two proposed constitutional amendments that would open the door to casino gambling in the northern part of Florida, including Jacksonville.
Las Vegas Sands, whose properties include The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, pumped $17 million on June 28 into a political committee called Florida Voters in Charge, according to filings with the state Division of Elections.
The amendments could be on the ballot statewide in November 2022, coming on the heels of a sweeping new state compact with the Seminole Tribe for its casinos in the southern part of Florida.
“Florida Voters in Charge is exploring options that do not violate the recently passed compact/revenue sharing agreement with the Seminole Tribe of Florida," committee spokeswoman Sarah Bascom said Wednesday. "The two proposed ballot initiatives are options we are exploring, specifically focusing on bringing casino gaming and the accompanying economic development to North Florida."
The proposed amendments, which Florida Politics first reported on Wednesday, do not specify Jacksonville or any other city as the place where a casino would go if voters approved a statewide referendum allowing the gambling expansion.
But the language in one of the proposed amendments says businesses with active cardroom licenses could offer casino gaming if they are at least 130 miles from any of the Seminole Tribe's seven casinos in Florida.
Jacksonville, which is more than 130 miles from any of the Seminole Tribe's casinos, has a Bestbet poker room on Monument Road that has a cardroom license. It has been the busiest cardroom in the state for years. Bestbet also has a poker room on Park Avenue in Orange Park.
The proposed amendment would not limit a casino to the current site of a cardroom, but instead says the license-holder could relocate to another site in the same county, provided the move occurs before Dec. 31, 2025.
In addition, the investment in the casino would have to be at least $250 million for a gaming complex that would include not only the casino floor but also related retail, hotel, entertainment, convention, financial and restaurant facilities.
The second proposed amendment drafted by Florida Voters in Charge would allow three new casinos that are at least 100 miles from any of the Seminole Tribe's casinos. The Florida Gaming Control Commission would issue those license based on applications it receives and each casino would require at least $500 million in investment.
That proposed amendment does not have any requirements for the new casinos to be tied to businesses holding cardroom licenses.
Florida Voters in Charge submitted both proposed amendments to the Florida Secretary of State, which oversees the state Division of Elections.
“In 2018, voters passed an amendment that said Florida voters should be in charge of gaming expansion in Florida," Bascom said. "We look forward to sharing more specific details and the committee’s path to the November 2022 ballot in the coming weeks and months.”
Bascom referred questions about Jacksonville as a potential site for a casino to Las Vegas Sands Corp., which did not immediately respond Wednesday to questions about its plans.
Bestbet President Jamie Shelton declined comment.
Florida Voters in Charge has a local connection because its mailing address is in Jacksonville Beach. The committee's treasurer is Erika Alba and the deputy treasurer is Kevin Hyde, both Jacksonville attorneys at the Foley & Lardner firm.
Duval County voters have shown support in the past for expanding gambling. Bestbet's owners put more than $2 million into the campaign for the county voter referendum in 2016 that won 54 percent support for allowing Bestbet Jacksonville to add up to 2,000 slot machines.
Despite the support at the county level, the push ended up going nowhere because the Florida Supreme Court ruled in 2017 that only a change in state law would let a county referendum carry the day.
Shelton told a Florida House committee in January 2018 that it seemed the state has a "double standard" with policies that allow more gambling in some parts of Florida "but not in parts of Florida where the people have spoken" at the ballot box.
Shelton also told the committee about Mayor Lenny Curry's work on downtown revitalization and said of Bestbet that "our operations could most certainly be a part of downtown development and growth — not the cornerstone of it, mind you, but a critical component.”
The state Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis enacted gambling legislation this year that approved a compact with the Seminole Tribe for its casinos. That compact also would allow expansion of online sports betting overseen by the tribe in tandem with parimutuel operators such as Bestbet.
The Seminole Tribe's casinos are in the southern portion of the state in Clewiston, Okeechobee, Coconut Creek, Hollywood, Immokalee and Tampa.
