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Key lawmakers want voters to get shot at repealing slots

The issue may enter several 2006 campaigns and further stall the enactment of regulations for Broward parimutuels.

By JONI JAMES
Published October 12, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - Less than a year after South Florida parimutuels won the right to add slot machines, powerful Republicans are backing a plan to strip that right.

Senate President Tom Lee and House Speaker Allan Bense have told activists for the Christian Coalition of South Florida they support asking voters in November 2006 to repeal a citizen initiative that allowed slot machines in Broward and Miami-Dade counties if local voters agreed. Broward voters did so in March.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Gallagher, now Florida's chief financial officer, also has embraced the repeal effort. On Tuesday, so did Gov. Jeb Bush.

The new strategy, even if unsuccessful, markedly increases the uncertainty for the parimutuel industry, which spent millions of dollars to place the 2004 measure on the ballot through citizen petitions.

The mere suggestion that the issue will be alive through the 2006 session - and possibly a November 2006 ballot question - could stall business efforts the industry says are badly needed.

The repeal plan isn't new. It was first proposed seven months ago by Rep. Randy Johnson, R-Celebration, who led the antislot machines campaign for the No Casinos political committee. Johnson is Lee's rival for the 2006 GOP nomination for chief financial officer.

But it wasn't until 10 days ago, when Johnson refiled the legislation for the 2006 session, that the plan drew new backers.

Lee and Bense insisted Tuesday that their support won't preclude lawmakers from adopting implementing language for slot machines. Bush has proposed that that happen in a special session this fall or winter.

The state is a defendant in a lawsuit stemming from the Legislature's failure to adopt such rules during the 2005 session.

Last month, a state appeals court ruled that failure can't block four Broward County parimutuels from installing slot machines. The state attorney has pledged to appeal the decision.

"It may sound a little contradictory, but in fact it's the right thing to do," said Bush, speaking of the need to adopt slots regulations.

"We have a duty to implement this . . . after the state has voted and Broward County has voted," he said. "But having said that, you could implement it and put it back on the ballot and ask voters to take a second look."

Johnson agreed.

"Our oath to our office is to honor the (state) Constitution," he said. "That Constitution allows us to enable legislation and propose constitutional amendments. There is no reason we can't do both at the same time."

It's unclear if the Republican support for repeal will amount to much, as lawmakers have been loathe in recent years to ask voters to reverse themselves. Bush twice has failed to get lawmakers to approve his plan to ask voters to repeal the 2000 class size reduction plan. And he and Gallagher finally turned to their own citizen initiative drive to get the high-speed train repealed on the 2004 ballot.

Three-fifths of each legislative chamber's membership must agree to place any measure on the statewide ballot. That is 72 of the House's 120 members or 24 of the Senate's 40.

But the issue is expected to play a role in election year dynamics, particularly in Republican primaries, where many voters lean against gambling.

The campaign for Gallagher's opponent in the Republican governor's race, Attorney General Charlie Crist, said Tuesday the candidate "opposes any expansion of gambling." But it wasn't clear if that included supporting the idea of a repeal.

Even though Lee is backing his plan, Johnson signaled that he will still make note of $20,000 in campaign contributions Lee has received from gambling-related interests. Johnson has said he won't take any such money.

Lee disputed Johnson's assertion, saying, "I don't think it's appropriate and fair to label people because they take a check from a member of the trial bar or parimutuel business or a teachers' union. That doesn't mean you're beholden to any one of those groups."

Joni James can be reached at 850 224-7263 or jjames@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 12, 2005, 00:18:12]