House and Senate negotiators are getting nowhere settling a gambling deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida and making changes for dog and horse tracks.

They met only once since given the task Wednesday of bringing the chambers closer together on schismatic proposals that on the Senate side opened gambling wide open and on the House side clamped down.

The House never responded to the Senate’s opening bid Wednesday night and it appears doubtful the committee will get much further, if at all, today.

They’ll bump the issue to Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander and one of the House chiefs, Alexander said.

Alexander said he’s one of the “few folks that’s not beholden to any of the interests” angling for help on gambling. Some Miami-Dade County lawmakers are looking for a way to reopen Hialeah Race Park. They and some Broward County lawmakers want something to help their pari-mutuels compete with the Seminoles, as do some Tampa Bay officials. The Palm Beach Kennel Club hopes to add something to its gambling arsenal. Central Florida pols want to keep the state’s multi-billion thoroughbred industry alive.

On top of that, lawmakers are trying to come up with something the Seminoles will agree to that will also be lucrative for the state. The Senate is counting on using money from a gambling deal with the tribe to put into savings.

Earlier in the week, Senate President Jeff Atwater said the task would be a “very, very heavy lift.”

It doesn’t appear lighter thus far.

“Hope springs eternal but all I can do is my best,” said Alexander, R-Lake Wales.

Tags: Charlie Crist, gambling, state budget, State House, State Senate

This entry was posted on Friday, May 1st, 2009 at 10:53 am and is filed under Charlie Crist, gambling, legislature, state budget, State House, State Senate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.