Laws that might have doubtlessly paved the best way for on line casino growth in South Florida seems useless after some well-heeled enterprise house owners flexed their muscle tissues.
The Fontainebleau Miami Seaside. Hopes for a on line casino there seem useless. (Picture: Miami Every day Life)
Late Wednesday, the Florida State Senate scrapped plans to think about a invoice that, if signed into regulation, would have allowed new gaming venues to be constructed with out voters’ consent. Such laws runs counter to an modification to Florida’s structure, overwhelmingly permitted by the voters in 2018, that mandates voters should resolve on gaming growth.
The information signifies hopes for a on line casino on the Fontainebleau Miami Seaside are once more dashed. Withdrawal of Senate Invoice 1054 (SB 1054) arrived after Miami Seaside officers voted to just accept funding from native actual property developer Armando Codina and use a personal jet owned by billionaire Norman Braman to fly to the state capitol in Tallahassee to lean on lawmakers to oppose the on line casino laws.
Fontainebleau Miami Seaside proprietor Jeffrey Soffer has been a backer of the Republican Get together of Florida and a few GOP officeholders within the state in hopes of bringing a gaming venue to the famed property.
Fontainebleau Miami On line casino Seems Unwell-Fated
Regardless of the enduring standing of the Fontainebleau Miami Seaside and Soffer’s efforts, polling confirms that Miami Seaside residents don’t need a on line casino and are bored with the difficulty.
Soffer has donated a minimum of $1.3 million to Florida Republicans, together with Gov. Ron DeSantis, and associated political motion committees. Whereas a few of these contributions have been directed to policymakers within the Miami-Dade space, when push got here to shove, State Senate President Kathleen Passidomo — a Republican — let lawmakers from that area name the photographs, and so they didn’t need to think about the laws.
A Senate spokeswoman, Katie Betta, instructed the Miami Herald that SB 1054 didn’t have a path to passage. Senate Regulated Industries Chairman Joe Gruters instructed the publication that companion laws within the Florida Home wouldn’t cross.
It stays to be seen how lengthy the South Florida on line casino is off the desk or if Soffer will throw within the towel for good. Soffer and Trump Nationwide Doral, managed by the Trump Group, tried to obtain gaming licenses in 2021.
Attention-grabbing Timing
The state Senate declining to listen to SB 1054 arrived only a day after Citadel founder Ken Griffin ripped the thought of gaming growth in an op-ed printed by the Herald.
Griffin, who moved his hedge fund to Miami from Chicago, mentioned Florida doesn’t want extra gaming venues. That’s as a result of the state is already flourishing economically, led partly by South Florida.
In criticizing SB 1054 as an effort to sidestep voters, the billionaire financier added that new on line casino resorts in South Florida might have undesirable penalties, together with antagonistic results on residential actual property costs.
