Disney Wants Voters, Not Politicians, in Charge of Florida Casino Expansion
Posted on: October 12, 2017, 02:00h.
Last updated on: October 12, 2017, 04:03h.
Disney, Florida’s largest employer, is leading the campaign effort to strip state legislators from having the power to decide whether to expand casino gambling in the Sunshine State.
Last month, Disney Worldwide Services, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, made three donations totaling $575,000 to a political committee called Voters in Charge. The group, according to its website, is “working to ensure that Florida voters have the final say in whether we have more gambling in our state.”
Voters in Charge has few financial backers aside from Disney. The multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate has given $2.325 million since the lobbying organization’s inception in October of 2015.
Voters in Charge’s other donations total just $232,915. No Casinos Inc, a lobbying group in the state capital of Tallahassee supported by various organizations including the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Florida Attractions Association, is responsible for the majority of the other funds.
Message Struggling to Resonate
Though the state constitution prohibits all gambling “other than parimutuel pools,” over the years the Florida Legislature, working in conjunction with the Seminole Tribe through the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), has gained power in deciding casino expansion without voters weighing in.
Voters in Charge says case laws conflicting with the Florida constitution has provided ammo to politicians who believe they “can bypass this constitutional prohibition and legalize casino gambling.”
Voters in Charge say parimutuel tracks are also trying to bypass the law by using the court system to obtain the legal right to place slot machines inside their facilities.
The group simply wants to give all gaming powers to the people. To do that, it needs to put the Voter Control of Gaming Amendment before citizens during the November 2018 election.
Before the question can be put on the ballot, Voters in Charge needs to acquire 766,200 petition signatures across Florida’s 27 congressional districts, which equates to about eight percent of the total election turnout last fall.
Voters in Charge’s social media presence is struggling to gain a following. On Facebook, the group has just 10,290 likes, and on Twitter, just 581 followers.
Ballot Question
Disney’s campaign money will be used to back signature efforts and get the Voter Control of Gambling Amendment on the ballot next year. According to Florida’s Division of Elections, 287,203 valid signatures have been submitted on the effort’s behalf.
Voters in Charge says hundreds of thousands of additional signatures have already been collected, and the paperwork will soon be filed with the state.
“We are on track to accomplish our goal,” Voters in Charge Chairman John Sowinski said in a statement. “We look forward to being on the 2018 ballot, mounting an aggressive statewide campaign.”
Disney has long advocated against gambling, saying much of Florida, specifically the Orlando area home to Walt Disney World, is a family friendly tourism destination that would be tarnished by casinos.
After acquiring the licensing rights to Star Wars and Marvel in 2013, Disney discontinued agreements for slot operators to use the characters’ likeness.
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Who the hell does Disney think they are. Disney wants to be the only player in the entertainment business. That fine for young people. Last time I looked around the majority of the folks calling Florida home and paying taxes are not young people.
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Disney obviously does not want the Florida Legislature to make decisions on the oversight and expansion of various forms of gaming. What most voters may not understands, is that Disney's concern is not just casino gaming, but that a major developer, like Las Vegas Sands, building a major destination resort. A complete resort, that might cut into their monopoly of large conventions and trade shows, that fill mid-week rooms, with top rate business. Florida already has destination casino resorts, but the Seminole Hard Rock casinos are still waiting for the Governor and Legislature to negotiate a compact, that adds the games of Craps and Roulette, two important games that attract North American and European gamers. Allowing the voters to make the final decision on gaming questions, raises the issue of the research that individual voters will undertake, before voting for or against various proposals. Florida should look at the experience of Maine, that is facing another referendum, to approve a casino, totally underwritten by one individual; who will, if successful, immediately sell the development rights to another gaming company. As he has done previously, he is supporting the referendum, with substantial advertising dollars, and hopes to again sell the rights for $50 million or more; in spite of much Legislative and Governmental opposition to the effort. It's a question of who has the deepest pockets, when the issue is left up to the voters; and currently in Florida, absent any effort from a casino developer, that is Disney. As a fellow Floridian, I believe the Legislature and Governors office, will be better informed about an issue as misunderstood as the various forms of gaming. The Seminole Tribe operates under Federal Law, as a recognized Tribe with recognized Reservations in Florida. And the State's voters did make the decision in 2004,on whether Miami-Dade and Broward Counties could add slot machines to Licensed pari-mutuel race tracks and frontons. And Miami-Dade originally failed in the required local vote, giving Ft. Lauderdale a 2 year head start on slots machines, apart from the Seminole casinos. Florida voters should thing long and hard over whether they want the final say on multiple gaming issues, like dog racing (should tracks be allowed to eliminate or reduce live racing), Internet casinos (if allowed, what kind of tax should they pay), what gaming is allowed at State pari-mutuels (poker, slot machines), who should oversee racing, gaming and the Lottery; and what about new forms of gaming, like Sports Betting, Fantasy Sports, E-Sports and games of skill? The Legislature and the Governor are better equipped to deal with the very complicated gaming subject; and the Disney Organization should not be the organization telling the voters what to vote on; especially on an issue that has nothing to do with family entertainment.