Florida and Seminoles Coming to Agreement?

With federal officials having given a deadline to the state of November 15th to come to some sort of agreement with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, you can imagine what the folks in Tallahassee are talking about these days. The state has jerked the tribe around since Governor Bush was in office, and now they have to come down to terms or they will be out of the loop.

The U.S. Department of the Interior has made it very clear that if the state has not reached an agreement by then that they will step in and give the tribe pretty much whatever they want. They say that they will allow the tribe to have the slots that they want as well as table games like craps and roulette.

The current pact that is on the table gives them their slots, but does not allow them the table games. The Seminoles say that they will give the state some of their earnings if the governor signs the pact, but if the government steps in the state won’t see a dime from them. Therefore it is in their best interest to give them a deal.

As the tribe is allowed under law to offer any of the same gambling that is offered elsewhere in the state, so since they already allow slots gambling in Broward County they have to allow the tribe to do the same as well. However, since the government is willing to give them table games as well, the state should try and give them a good deal so that they see some of the revenue from all of that.

The tribe has filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Florida seeking the Class III slots, and they have already had many meetings with the government in regards to what they will be getting. As the negotiations between the tribe and the government seem to be going well, it is in Florida’s best interest to give them a similar deal or they won’t see dime one from the revenue.