House Speaker José Oliva was asked about the bill by Florida Politics. He said: “Gambling is a comprehensive subject, and I think by the time some agreement was reached, it was a bit late in session and so we’ll have to take it up again next year.
“We only really saw an outline (of the negotiations). I think some of the agreements were regarding what types of games could be allowed within the [Seminole] Tribe and there was some talk of sports betting.”
Part of the drive behind the bill was the possible loss of income for the Seminole Tribe.
It has continued to pay its share of casino gambling revenue each month, $19.5m, but legislators did not count that money in budgets for 2019-20.
An agreement for the Tribe to keep paying runs out at the end of May.
A representative for the Seminole Tribe asked: “We haven’t been activated, so what does that tell you?”
Comments from anonymous lawmakers also stated the bill is “99% dead” while another source said “the reporting is accurate,” with regard to ongoing news stories on the unlikely progression.
