Hard Rock Casino Expansion News

[hopkinsd7]

Does anyone know who the Architect is?

[JBrisco]

"Klai Juba Architects of Las Vegas is the project architect for the expansion project and HKS Architecture of Orlando is the architect of record. Klai Juba also designed the original Seminole Hard Rock complexes in Tampa and Hollywood, Fla."

http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache...ient=firefox-a

[HARTride 2012]

Crist Embraces Seminole Gaming Compact, Draws Foes

By WILLIAM MARCH

wmarch@tampatrib.com

Published: April 4, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - With the state Legislature debating whether to expand gambling in Florida to help balance the budget, Gov. Charlie Crist announced his position Friday, and it's one neither the House nor Senate seems likely to embrace, but which spares him political damage.

Crist wants to stick with the original agreement he negotiated with the Seminole Indian tribe last year, allowing the tribe to offer "banked" card games such as blackjack at their casinos.

For Crist, a Republican who may run for the U.S. Senate next year, his position looks like a retrenchment in the face of fierce opposition to expanded gambling from social conservatives.

He has spoken favorably in recent weeks about a Senate proposal that would allow more gambling and produce more money for the state, saying it would provide money at a time of unprecedented economic hardship. The measure would allow full casinos on tribal land and expanded machine gambling at existing pari-mutuel facilities.

Over the years, Crist has hinted one way and then another on the issue.

In his 2006 campaign for governor, he said he opposed expanded gambling.

In 2007, he negotiated the compact with the tribe, saying it would produce $100 million a year for state, and that without it the tribe might be able to offer casino-style slots on its own, paying the state nothing.

Last week, he said he might support the Senate proposal in response to "the most profound economic change since the Great Depression."

"We have to adapt and we have to adjust," he said.

After the Senate action, major figures in the religious conservative movement, along with Marco Rubio, a possible Republican primary opponent to Crist, launched a high-profile campaign against any expanded gambling.

Crist said in his news conference Friday that the gambling money would go to public education.

Florida teachers union president Andy Ford stood beside him, as did Wayne Blanton, executive director of the state School Boards Association, and Bill Montford, CEO of the Association of District School Superintendents.

Crist let them do most of the talking.

"We cannot have an adequate education budget without the infusion of dollars" from the gambling compact," Blanton said.

Crist must have legislative approval to implement his proposal, and there's no indication the Legislature will go his way.

Senate budget chief JD Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said he's not happy about expanding gambling, but if it happens, the state ought to get more money for it than Crist's compact provides.

Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, chairman of the House select committee on the compact, said many House members oppose any further gambling at any price.

Crist's proposal is "the same message we've heard for months now," Galvano said. "We're going to continue to proceed the way we've been proceeding."

Neither knew of any legislation to put Crist's proposal into effect. Crist's office didn't respond to a query on whether any legislator has agreed to introduce any.

The tribe already has been running the games allowed by the compact, setting aside the state's share of the money in escrow. That means the state would get $288 million the first year.

A House proposal approved Friday would produce about the same amount of money, without allowing the card games. The tribe would have to agree to that.

The Senate proposal would produce an amount that state economic analysts have said would be about $387 million the first year, and more later.

Reporter William March can be reached at (813) 259-7761 or wmarch@tampatrib.com

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/apr...fo/news-metro/

[Jasonhouse]

The inability of our Republican leaders to effectively solve issues like this is pathetic.

[HARTride 2012]

Long time, no see Jase

[stormyguy]

The House & Senate versions of the proposed new compact are so vastly different from each other that it's difficult to see either side coming to an agreement on something in the middle. The funny thing is, the 'something' in the middle is pretty much what the existing compact is.
I can't imagine the tribe even taking the time to think about the House version since it basically asks them to pay 100 million a year (for slots only). This is something that the Federal gov't will give the Seminoles anyway without having to pay the state a dime. The house members that came up with that plan seem to exhibit sheer ignorance of the reality of the situation.
The Seminoles have the upper hand at this point which is at least reflected in the Senate version of the compact. The Senate version would allow craps & roulette (in addition to the existing games) at tribal casinos and blackjack at parimutuals in south Florida.

[tampasteve]

Originally Posted by stormyguy

and blackjack at parimutuals in south Florida.

Great points that I agree 100% with. Don't forget that it also allows class II slots at the rest of the pari-mutual's in the state; this is an important sticking point to the house as they do not want expanded gaming. However, I do agree that it is difficult for the tracks to compete with the tribe as the laws currently are. Slots would potentially revitalize Tampa Grayhound and other tracks outside of South Florida.

Steve

[Jasonhouse]

What the state should do is do the grant full class III gaming rights to itself on a few parcels of land near existing tribe casinos, and then build taxpayer-owned casinos which compete directly with the tribe's casinos. If we're going to tolerate gambling in this state, then it should be the taxpayers who benefit from the profits.

[HARTride 2012]

House gaming bill stays lean


By CATHERINE DOLINSKI

cdolinski@tampatrib.com

Published: April 14, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - Parimutuels would get a tax break, but no new games, under legislation headed for debate on the House floor later this week.

The House and Senate are both pushing bills to boost the state's nontribal gambling industry to offset a proposed new gaming compact with the Seminole tribe.

A House panel on gaming approved a bill Monday that chairman Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, said would "level the playing field" for parimutuels by cutting the tax rate on Vegas-style slot machines from 50 percent to 36 percent but with $140 million guaranteed for the state and reducing the license fee. The bill would allow card rooms to operate 24 hours daily, and increase their minimum wager and buy-in limits.

The Senate has a final committee hearing today on its parimutuels bill, which would expand substantially the kinds of games offered across the state in addition to loosening regulations and lowering the slots tax rate. The Senate is likewise proposing to let the Seminoles keep their blackjack tables, whereas the House wants to make the tribe give them up.

Galvano said he expects the House bill to reach the floor this week. Negotiations between the two chambers have far to go, he said, but there is a firm contingent of opponents in the House to anything resembling a gambling expansion.

Noting that he lost four votes in his committee for the more modest House parimutuels bill, he said, "That's a political reality the Senate has to come to grips with."

Reporter Catherine Dolinski can be reached at (850) 2....

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/apr...an/news-metro/

[HARTride 2012]

Seminoles offer $1 billion to seal gambling deal

The Seminole Tribe offered $1.1 billion to entice lawmakers to support their gambling plan.

BY MARY ELLEN KLAS
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
TALLAHASSEE -- As legislative budget negotiations reached a stalemate Wednesday, Gov. Charlie Crist and the Seminole Tribe offered the state a financial lifeline: $1.1 billion in cash over two years in return for giving the tribe a gambling monopoly.

The deal would allow the Seminoles to continue running blackjack tables at their Hard Rock Casinos, plus five other tribe sites, and it would give them the exclusive right to operate Class III slot machines outside of Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

In return, the Seminoles would send the state an unprecedented check for $600 million in 2009-10 and another for $500 million, if needed, in 2010-11. During the 25-year agreement, the total minimum payment to the state would be $2.5 billion, minus interest payments for the upfront money in the first two years.

The trade off for Florida: no payment at all in year three, then payments that would slowly ramp up again in years four through 25.

Crist called it ''significantly improved'' over the gambling agreement he originally negotiated in 2007, which was later invalidated by the Florida Supreme Court because the Legislature had not made blackjack legal in Florida. He commended the Seminoles for their generosity.

''That's a tremendous assist, at the right time, by wonderful people,'' Crist said.

Tribe leader Max Osceola called it ``a great day.''

Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, said the Seminole cash ''could be valuable'' and provide some comfort to lawmakers as they negotiate differences in the budget.

But the lead gambling negotiators in the House and Senate called it a bad deal for Florida.

''Our approach to the compact is not about filling a fiscal need,'' said Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton. ``We are facing budget problems, but taking out a line of credit from the Seminoles is not a responsible way to balance our budget . . . Front loading the payments is a short-term solution that will lead to long-term problems for our state and its industries.''

Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, the Senate's lead negotiator, said the agreement seems to indicate the governor has backed off his support for the Senate plan to offer additional games to horse and dog tracks to better allow them to compete with the tribe.

''Now that there's more money up front, the Indians don't want parimutuels to have any expansion and that's probably not going to sit well in the Senate,'' Jones said.

The proposal must be approved by the Legislature to become law. In addition to the upfront cash, the agreement allows lawmakers to reduce the 50 percent tax rate on the seven parimutuels operating in Miami-Dade and Broward counties to 35 percent. It allows them to operate 24 hours a day, offer free alcohol to patrons, set-up ATM cash machines on the casino floor and raise poker limits.

The proposal also eliminates an earlier provision that if the tribe's net wins decline below $1.37 billion, their payments would cease.

''With the exception of the funding, there were no material changes,'' said Barry Richard, a lawyer for the tribe who helped draft the proposal.

He said the tribe decided to offer the money when it became clear that lawmakers were struggling to find a way to fill their budget deficit.

The tribe arrived at the $600 million figure because it roughly equals the difference between the House and Senate budgets and also because it combines the amount they would have owed the state this year under the previous agreement -- $288 million -- and the amount they can borrow from financial markets.

Under the plan, the state would split the cost of the loan 50-50 with the tribe.

''This changes the whole picture,'' Richard said. 'Who else can give the state $600 million? . . . It would be difficult for the Legislature to say `no thanks.' ''

''I say take the money and run,'' said the Senate Republican leader, Alex Diaz de la Portilla of Miami. He praised the deal as ''creative'' and a way to avoid cuts to ``critical services for vulnerable Floridians.''

For the parimutuel industry, it's a tough bargain.

''It's a reasonable offer,'' said Marc Dunbar, a lawyer and lobbyist for Gulfstream Race Track in Hallandale. ``But I don't see any significant change in the tribe's position. There are a lot of legislators who have parimutuels in their districts that are outside Dade and Broward. Are they going to be willing to take the money from the tribe and forsake their incumbent industries?''

Crist has an answer: ''Do this for the children of Florida.'' He said he believes the money should be dedicated to education and urged lawmakers to be open-minded.

He is also optimistic that in years three and four, the same years the stimulus money from the federal government ends, the economy will have rebounded and the state won't need the cash.

''It is already starting to happen in fact -- the hopeful beginning of the end of the recession,'' he said.

He said the tribe's offer is ``more than what we have right now -- which is nothing.''

http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/1013185.html

[youngkg]

IMO, after year two; the state should get a minimum of X millions of dollars AND get a % of profit (Even a mere 1%). Why settle for a set amount of dollars when the Seminoles will have a monopoly for 25 years. The state should get some of the profits. I think the tribe can afford 1% of profits.

[HARTride 2012]

this needs to pass badly, but it will be tough sell. Maybe a 50% chance of passing if anything right now.

And is McCollumn still trying to pressure the federal govt to get rid of all of the Class III games the casinos already have?

[HARTride 2012]

Is Florida gambling deal on a back burner?

By Marc Caputo and Mary Ellen Klas, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
In Print: Thursday, April 30, 2009

TALLAHASSEE — Though they're raising fees and taxes to fill a budget hole, state lawmakers appear likely to reject at least $355 million from gambling interests because they're struggling to find common ground.

The only major agreement so far: backtrack on Gov. Charlie Crist's call to earmark any gaming proceeds for schools.

Instead, the Senate president and House speaker privately agreed this week that any money from a gambling deal will go into savings — a sign insiders interpret to mean lawmakers are prepared to finish the legislative session without an agreement on gambling expansion in Florida.

"It's going to be a very, very hard lift," said Senate President Jeff Atwater late Wednesday. "In the end, the state could press on without closure at this moment."

Separating the gaming money from education divorces the issue from the must-pass state budget. And that makes gambling proposals more likely to die in the antigaming Florida House.

"If we can't agree, it doesn't blow up the budget," said Rep. Bill Galvano, a Bradenton Republican and vice chair of the negotiating committee.

Also, if the gambling cash is no longer tied to school funding, it is easier for gambling opponents to vote against the measure.

Crist has worked hard to link gambling to education. He told reporters at a Miami school last week that gambling could "put more money into education."

He raised the point again Wednesday, pledging support for a new gambling permit to allow the reopening of Hialeah Park race track, an issue pushed by Hialeah Republican Rep. Steve Bovo. The mere news of the race track reopening brought 4,800 people to the park seeking employment, Bovo said.

"We'll work hard on Hialeah," Crist said. "I promise."

But Crist's work on the Seminole gambling deal has yielded mixed results. Last week, Crist joined with the Seminole Tribe to offer a plan to provide $1.1 billion in cash over two years, and at least another $1.5 billion over 23 years. Legislators rejected it immediately.

Asked about his concerns that the gaming money will no longer supplement education, Crist said he just wanted to make sure Florida gets a share of gambling money if possible.

"I try to stay out of the weeds on those kind of things," Crist said. "I just want to get the big picture done."

Crist's original plan — to give the tribe Las Vegas-style slot machines, blackjack and other banked card games in return for at least $100 million a year for 25 years — was invalidated by the courts last year because banked card games are illegal in Florida.

But after months of negotiations, the House and Senate remain widely divided on how to approach the Seminole gambling agreement while also considering appeals by race tracks and jai alai frontons around the state for more gambling options to better compete with the tribe's growing gaming empire.

Without the gambling issue as a sticking point, negotiations on the more than $65 billion budget sped along Wednesday. The budget raises $930 million in cigarette taxes, $800 million in other fees and taxes and raids trust funds to boost reserves to $1.7 billion. The reserves will decrease if there's no gaming deal.

The House wants to raise a total of $355 million by giving the Seminole Tribe the exclusive operation of slot machines outside of Miami-Dade and Broward counties. The House proposal would halt blackjack and other house-banked card games and would give parimutuels outside South Florida expanded pot limits on poker.

The House also would revive the now-shuttered Hialeah track by allowing it to run quarter horse races and eventually thoroughbred racing. Quarter horse racing permit holders would also be able to operate card rooms.

The Senate would raise $505 million by expanding gambling in every area of the state.

The Seminoles would get craps and roulette. South Florida tracks would get blackjack, and parimutuels elsewhere would get bingo-style slot machines.

Both chambers have agreed to give the parimutuel industry a 15 percent tax break.

Marc Caputo can be reached at mcaputo@ MiamiHerald.com.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politic...icle996692.ece

[HARTride 2012]

Monday, June 15, 2009, 12:24pm EDT | Modified: Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 2:00am
Crist signs gambling bill allowing compact with Seminole TribeTampa Bay Business Journal - South Florida Business Journal

Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday signed a bill that will expand casino gambling in Florida. Senate Bill 788 gives the governor the authority to negotiate a compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida by Aug. 31.

The deal guarantees the state gets a minimum payment of $150 million a year of casino profits in exchange for the right to operate certain games such as baccarat, chemin de fer and blackjack in the tribe’s seven gambling facilities, including the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa.

The agreement must be ratified by the Florida Legislature and agreed to by the Tribe.

In addition to the $150 million, the Tribe is required to make revenue-sharing payments to the state based on the following annual amounts:


2 percent of profits up to $2.5 billion.
15 percent of profits between $2.5 billion and $3 billion.
20 percent of profits between $3 billion and $4 billion.
22.5 percent of profits between $4 billion and 4.5 billion.
25 percent of any profits above $4.5 billion.

The agreement also requires the Seminole Tribe of Florida to develop a compulsive gambling prevention program, submit records to an independent annual financial audit and maintain a legal process for compensating individuals for injuries caused to patrons.

The deal replaces an earlier one that Crist inked with the Tribe in 2007 but was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court after it found the governor had overstepped his authority by failing to involve the Legislature.

Crist noted that federal law governs the Tribe, and the federal government is likely to allow the Tribe to operate those games if the Legislature does not go along with the agreement.

http://tampabay.bizjournals.com/tamp...15/daily4.html

[HARTride 2012]

Seminole casino deal with Florida remains in holding pattern

By Mary Ellen Klas, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
In Print: Wednesday, July 29, 2009

TALLAHASSEE — Negotiations over a gambling deal between the governor and Seminole Tribe have been on hold for the past three weeks as both parties await word on whether the House and Senate will modify their take-it or leave-it offer.

"The ball is kind of in their court,'' said George LeMieux, former chief of staff for Gov. Charlie Crist and now on the legal team representing the governor in the talks.

But legislative leaders seem unlikely to budge from the blueprint they wrote during the spring legislative session and say it's their final offer to the tribe.

"I don't necessarily think we're in a negotiating mood," said House Speaker Larry Cretul on Tuesday.

Rep. Bill Galvano, the Bradenton Republican who has been the House's point man on the issue, attended the early July meeting with the tribe and governor's lawyers and told them the legislation is their final word.

"They want a counteroffer and that's not what the legislation called for," Galvano told the Times/Herald.

The Legislature gave the governor until Aug. 31 to complete an agreement, or compact, with the tribe that would formally give it the right to operate slot machines and blackjack, baccarat and chemin de fer at tribal casinos in South Florida.

The deal also allows the tribe the exclusive right to operate slot machines at its casinos in Tampa and Central and southwest Florida. In exchange, the tribe would pay the state at least $150 million a year.

Lawmakers didn't rule out the option for expanded gambling elsewhere. But if lawmakers expand gambling, the tribe won't owe the state as much money.

The Seminoles want the exclusive right to slot machines outside of South Florida. The failure of legislators to guarantee that provision was the sticking point during the one-day meeting, several participants said.

Senate President Jeff Atwater's chief of staff, Bud Kneip, attended the meeting and supported Galvano's position that "the Legislature had acted," said Senate spokeswoman Jaryn Emhof.

LeMieux said he fears that if the state fails to close the deal with the Seminoles, the federal government will step in and give the tribe gaming with no limits, and Florida will receive no new revenue from the tribe.

Galvano believes that if the tribe rejects the legislative offer, the federal government won't step in and the tribe will have to take the state or federal government to court.

Mary Ellen Klas can be reached at meklas@MiamiHerald.com


[Last modified: Jul 28, 2009 10:38 PM]

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politic...cle1022612.ece

[HARTride 2012]

As clock ticks, state nears gambling deal
Thursday, August 27, 2009

TALLAHASSEE (Bay News 9) -- The state of Florida is getting closer to completing a gambling deal with the state's Seminole Tribe.


The two sides have until Monday to come to an agreement or the state stands to lose millions.

If an agreement is not reached, lawmakers can ask the U.S. Department of Interior to step in.

The plan proposed by Crist earlier this year would let the tribe keep slot machines and card games at the Hard Rock casinos in Tampa and Broward County.

In exchange, the tribe would pay $150 million each year to the state.

The proposal is now in the hands of the tribe's counselors.

http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2...+gambling+deal

[HARTride 2012]

Monday, August 31, 2009, 4:00pm EDT | Modified: Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 2:00am
Crist reaches compact with SeminolesTampa Bay Business Journal

It’s now up to the Florida Legislature to decide whether or not a $6.8 billion compact negotiated by Gov. Charlie Crist will allow Class III gaming on Seminole Tribe reservation lands.

The compact would generate $6.8 billion over the next 20 years that Crist said would be earmarked for schools. It includes a $150 million minimum payment due by the Seminoles from its casinos as well as a revenue sharing cycle that includes a minimum 12 percent revenue share payment to the state.

“Another important milestone has been reached in the Seminole Tribe’s long effort to establish a compact with the state of Florida,” Mitchell Cypress, chairman of the Seminole Tribe, said in a release.

“The revenue sharing between the tribe and the state will enable the state of Florida to invest in the future of Florida’s children,” Crist said in a separate statement. “I look forward to working with Chairman Bill Galvano and the Florida Legislature to ratify this important compact.”

Crist received authorization to negotiate a compact after signing Senate Bill 788 last June that gave him until Monday to complete an agreement and submit it to the Legislature. The compact would allow the Seminoles to continue such Las Vegas-style games such as baccarat, chemin de fer and blackjack at its gambling facilities.

Under the compact, the state is expected to pick up its first $150 million on Dec. 1 and repeat that amount a year later. The annual contribution will grow to $183 million by 2012, according to estimates provided by Crist, and go as high as $501.9 million by Dec. 1, 2029.

“The Seminole Tribe receives the exclusivity of certain gaming that it deserves,” Crist said in a letter to Cypress Monday.

This new deal replaces an earlier one that Crist signed with the tribe in 2007 but was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court after it found the governor had overstepped his authority by failing to involve the Legislature.

Crist noted at the time he signed the bill allowing him to negotiate a new agreement that federal law governs the tribe, and the federal government was likely going to allow the tribe to operate those expanded games, even if the Legislature did not go along with the agreement.


http://tampabay.bizjournals.com/tamp...1/daily17.html

[major99]

Instead of Charlie Christ and the state battling back and forth about this compact why don't we just welcome full blown casinos to the state of Florida. If we are going to allow gambling and only take a small percentage from the Seminoles then why not allow MGM, Harrahs, etc to open up and tax the heck out of them.

Heck if it was up to me I would open up the Bellagio and Borgata right across the street from the Hard Rock.

[tampasteve]

I do not think many people on this board will argue with expanded gaming laws in Florida. However, the likelihood is incredibly just not there. Certain legislatures actually foughtreally hard against expanded gaming, and that includes for the Seminoles or the tracks. If anything were to happen I could maybe see letting the parimutuels expand their gaming operations in the rest of the state; but not under this current compact.

If the parimutuels were allowed to expand that would help their operations a lot. For example, the Tampa Jai Alai could re-open with other games and Tampa Greyhound and Downs could expand their facilities. Many jobs would be created and we could have some nice entertainment options.

Steve

[HARTride 2012]

I wish Tampa Jai Alai would reopen. But it's not going to happen, at least in South Tampa, the building has been loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong gone since the early 2000s. There's a Sam's Club & Home Depot on the land today, and there was supposed to have been a church constructed just behind them too. But I think the recession halted those plans.