法院裁定允许立法者在南佛罗里达州扩大赌场游戏

  法院在星期四的一个上诉裁决表明立法者可以扩大赌博,即使没有选民批准,这将给予迈阿密、戴德和布劳沃德这三度假村的赌场带来更大的立法动力。

  在比尔赌博的足迹,必须加以限制,以不超过总数的百分之10平方英尺的设备专用于拉斯维加斯式的游戏,如老虎机,轮盘赌和胡扯表。赌场必须和其他景点分开,让游客可以游玩度假村时不用看赌博机。

  塔拉哈西——塔拉哈西的一个法庭扫清了道路,立法者在南佛罗里达州扩大赌博没有得到全民投票决议,而主要赞助商赌场比尔起草完成他们的建议,允许赌场在迈阿密、戴德和布劳沃德县三个度假村经营。

  第一区上诉法院法官玛格丽特·戴维斯执政的是一个胜利,海亚利亚赛道作为一个充满希望的征兆,推动了世界最大的游戏公司来到佛罗里达州度假赌场。

  戴维斯肯定了下级法院的决定,称议会通过的法律使海亚利亚赛道的老虎机游戏提供了法律保护。她拒绝了存在争论的弗拉格勒游戏中心和考尔德的比赛,而认为当选民批准老虎机游戏在迈阿密、戴德和布劳沃德的存在和发展。

  戴维斯说,选民并不打算给实体“constitutionally-protected垄断老虎机游戏。”

  这项裁决由国会议员埃里克·福莱森,参议员埃林伯达诺夫,劳德代尔提出。立法委员同意他们的建议,在迈阿密、戴德和布劳沃德县三个度假村建立赌场,不需要寻求选民批准。他们还提出相同的建议,邀请公司投标三赌场执照,新设一个佛罗里达州博彩委员会。每个投标人将被要求出示他们将投资在每个设施的最低2000000000美元的资金。

  这个新设的赌博委员会,将仔细的审查,将评估投标和选择获奖者,并根据评分表给予好的建议,以创造最大的工程和最早完成工作,伯达诺夫说。

  该法案还需要度假胜地提供数十亿美元的赌博资金。每一个赌场,限制使用不超过总数的百分之10平方英尺的拉斯维加斯式的游戏,如老虎机,轮盘赌和胡扯表。赌场与其他景点也必须隔离,让游客可以游玩度假村时不用看赌博机,福莱森说。

  该法案决议,所有的赌博和许可职责将由业务部和赌博委员会来进行专业的规范。只有国营彩票由另一机构计划将继续执行。

  拟议的账单也要求严格的背景检查,所有赌场雇员和金融检查赌场拥有者和合作伙伴充满活力,伯达诺夫说。

  该账单给赌场最低税率在佛罗里达州进行赌博活动:百分之10净收入。角子机游戏目前需支付35%税率。

  译文:

  Court ruling allows legislators to expand casino gaming in South Florida

  An appeals court ruling Thursday makes it clear legislators can expand gambling without voter approval, giving more momentum to legislation to bring three resort casinos to Miami Dade and Broward counties.

  Under the bill, the gambling footprint must be limited, with no more than 10 percent of the total square footage of the facility dedicated to the Las Vegas-style games, such as slot machines, roulette wheels and craps tables. And the space must be segregated from other attractions — so that a visitor can attend the resort without having to see the gambling machines. Joan Leong / ASSOCIATED PRESS

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  Hialeah wins court ruling, court says slots okay

  By Mary Ellen Klas

  Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

  TALLAHASSEE — A Tallahassee court cleared the way Thursday for legislators to expand gambling in South Florida without a referendum vote, while two key sponsors of a casino bill finished drafting their proposal to allow three resort casinos to operate in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

  The ruling by First District Court of Appeals Judge Marguerite H. Davis was a victory for Hialeah Racetrack and serves as a promising omen for the push by the world’s largest gaming companies to bring resort casinos to Florida.

  Davis affirmed a lower court decision, saying the law passed by the Legislature allowing Hialeah Racetrack to offer slot machines was constitutional. She rejected the argument by Flagler Gaming Centers and Calder Race Course, which argued that when voters approved slot machines in Miami-Dade and Broward in 2005 and 2008, they intended to limit the number of permits to the seven pari-mutuels that were currently operating.

  Davis said voters did not intend to give the entities “a constitutionally-protected monopoly over slot machine gaming in the state.”

  The ruling was hailed by Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, and Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, who want legislators to approve their proposal to build three resort casinos in Miami Dade and Broward Counties without first having to seek voter approval. They have filed identical proposals to invite companies to submit bids for three casino licenses to a newly-created Florida Gaming Commission. Each of the bidders would be required to show that they will invest a minimum of $2 billion in capital in each facility.

  This gambling commission, which itself will be carefully vetted, will evaluate the bids and select the winners based on a scoring scale that gives preferences to proposals that create the most jobs and complete work the earliest, Bogdanoff said.

  The bills also require that the multi-billion dollar resorts give gambling a low profile. Each resort is restricted to using no more than 10 percent of the total square footage for the Las Vegas-style games, such as slot machines, roulette wheels and craps tables. The gambling space also must be segregated from other attractions — so that a visitor can attend the resort without having to see the gambling machines, Fresen said.

  The bills will transfer all the gambling and licensing duties from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to the gambling commission. Only the state-run lottery program would continue to be run by another agency.

  The structure of the new gambling board is patterned after the Nevada and New Jersey regulatory gaming commissions, the sponsors said.

  The proposed bill would also require strict background checks for all casino employees and vigorous financial screening for casino owners and partners, Bogdanoff said.

  The 90-plus-page bill will give casinos the lowest tax rate yet for any gambling operation in Florida: 10 percent on net revenues. That is certain to draw the ire of the seven pari-mutuels with slot machine licenses in South Florida. They currently pay a 35v percent tax rate on their slots games and have made it clear they want parity, as well as the opportunity to bid for the resort casino licenses.

  The proposed legislation has no language addressing pari-mutuels, the horse and dog tracks and jai alai frontons that now operate across the state. It also contains no provisions to regulate or outlaw the so-called internet cafes, maquinitas and sweepstakes gambling halls that have sprung up at more than 1,000 locations across the state because of a loophole in the sweepstakes law.