This week, Representative Dan Daley (D-Coral Springs) sent a letter to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Julie Imanuel Brown regarding Senate Bill 8-A, Gaming that passed the Legislature during the Special Session of May 2021. This legislation revises requirements for jai alai permit holders and harness horse permit holders to conduct live racing or games.
This request to DBPR is based on and in response to the recent decision from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal on the Seminole Compact, which found that U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, whose agency oversees tribal gambling, erred in allowing the compact to go into effect because it violates federal law. Since the Seminole Compact cannot carry out provisions passed by the Legislature until further litigation has taken place, Senate Bill 8-A Gaming, should therefore not go into effect.
“Senate Bill 8A puts the livelihood of five thousand people in the Florida agriculture industry out of work and subsequently, thousands more in Florida that derive income from the industry indirectly and will be negatively affected by this bill. Given the current stay on the Seminole Compact the State should not enact SB 8A,” said Representative Daley. “We need to do all we can to ensure that people have the opportunity to continue to own and operate their small businesses in the state of Florida.”
See attached letter.
