Senate Prez tells guv no dice on gambling compact
by Dara Kam | September 10th, 2009
Atwater: no quick vote on compact
Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, sent Crist a list of questions about the compact – the second deal Crist inked with the tribe – today seeking “clarification.”
Atwater gave Crist until Oct. 9 to respond.
In an interview, Atwater also said he’d like the final compact to include provisions allowing the Palm Beach Kennel Club and other parimutuels around the state to add video slot machines or otherwise expand gambling if voters give the OK in local referenda. Such a measure was approved by legislators in the spring, but was not part of the recent compact Crist agreed to with the Seminoles.
Crist: wants early-October vote
No dice on that, either, Atwater said in a memo sent to the Senate and the media.
“As you all are aware, this issue involves a series of complex conversations with a variety of interests and impacts throughout our State. There are policy decisions to be considered that are not well served by undue haste. If, or when, the Senate takes up this issue it will be in a manner that allows for sufficient time to debate the facts and the merits of such policy,” Atwater wrote.
Tags: Charlie Crist, gambling, Jeff Atwater, offshore drilling, Seminole Tribe of Florida, State Senate
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October 21st, 2009 at 11:04 am
[...] Supreme Court last year tossed an agreement signed by Gov. Charlie Crist and the Seminoles and lawmakers this year failed to pass a revised version of the pact. Under Crist’s latest plan, the Seminoles would have paid $150 million a year to the state for [...]