A Palm Beach County senator has filed a legislation to create a new gambling commission in Florida while the public waits for the lawmakers’ decision about the new $3 billion Seminole Compact

  • The purpose of a gambling commission in Florida
  • Opposing opinions

Maria Sachs, a Palm Beach County senator has introduced a legislation, proposing for the set-up of a gambling commission in Florida. The 184-page bill was filed on Monday. Its purpose is to separate the gambling regulatory body from the Department of Business and Profession Regulation. Accordingly, there would be five-member gambling commission in Florida

“to oversee the activities of all gaming entities,
to regulate their operations,
to enforce gaming laws and regulations, and
to audit the proceeds from gaming operations”

Different stances on the need of gambling commission in Florida

In the past few years there were many attempts to create such body, but all of them failed to be realized. Opinions vary whether its needed to set up a separate gambling commission in Florida. “We have historically opposed creating a new gambling bureaucracy and oppose it in this new bill,” commented Paul Seago, Executive Director at No Casinos Inc. No Casinos is a group fighting against casino expansion in Florida. “You only need a bigger bureaucracy if you have more gambling to regulate,” he reasoned.

It depends on the cost of the set-up

“I’ve always been a proponent of a gaming commission,” said House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, adding that “we need a structure outside of the DBPR.” Representative Dana Young thinks that “it’s worth looking at whether the cost associated with creating a department of gaming or gaming commission would be warranted.”