In Leon County, Florida, Circuit Judge John Cooper recently accepted the Seminole Tribe and its political action committee, Standing Up For Florida, as interveners in a lawsuit filed by Las Vegas Sands-backed political group, Florida Voters In Charge.
The latter group had attempted to collect enough verified petition signatures to get a casino referendum on the November ballot. The Seminoles said the proposed North Florida casino, would compete with its Hard Rock casinos in South Florida and Tampa. The Sands campaign did not gather enough signatures by the February 1 deadline.
According to campaign finance reports through December 31, Florida Voters in Charge spent $45 million on the effort; the Seminole Tribe’s Standing Up For Florida campaign spent $20 million on advertising opposing the petition efforts.
On January 31, Florida Voters in Charge sued Florida Secretary of State Laurel Lee, in an attempt to get a judge to extend the deadline for petition processing. The group claimed flaws in state law, how county election officials processed petitions and the large number of unprocessed petitions caused the failure of the campaign. Judge Cooper has not yet ruled on those claims.
The tribe asked to intervene in the lawsuit based on its 2010 gaming compact with the state of Florida. That pact briefly was superseded by a new pact negotiated in 2021 by Governor Ron DeSantis. The state legislature and the U.S. Department of the Interior both approved that agreement in 2021, but a federal judge invalidated it in November. However, the 2010 compact still is in effect through 2030. In its motion to intervene, the tribe stated, “The Seminole Tribe is party to a compact with the State of Florida entered in 2010.”
The tribe noted its 2010 compact still gives it exclusive rights to offer slot machines and similar devices in Florida “with narrow exceptions not relevant to this matter.” Also, the tribe shared revenue with the state in exchange for exclusivity.
The court filing further stated, “The proposed amendment if passed would be an infringement on the tribe’s right to exclusivity under the Compact and threatens to disrupt a contractual relationship between the Tribe and the State that has been highly beneficial to both parties.”
The tribe only recently resumed making revenue sharing payments after a hiatus of three years, starting in 2018. Tribal spokesman Gary Bitner said last month the Seminoles started making payments again under the 2021 gaming compact, even though that compact was rejected by a federal judge. The Seminoles and the Interior Department have appealed that decision.
Under the 2021 compact, the tribe will make annual revenue sharing payments of at least $500 million; payments under the 2010 compact were around $350 million.
