Column: Casino-schools confusion

Guest column: CEO of Florida Chamber supports Amendment 3

By Mark Wilson

 

The Florida Chamber of Commerce has long advocated for restraint in amending Florida’s Constitution. We believe our constitution should only be amended in rare and extraordinary circumstances.

Amendment 3, which would require voter approval of future gambling expansion, meets that threshold. Keep in mind, Florida is creating 1 out of 11 new jobs in America. We don’t need the casino industry, they need Florida.

Rather than introduce anything new, the amendment simply reinforces language already in the constitution — a provision that gives voters the final say on gambling decisions. Florida voters inserted that protection in 1968 and it’s important we don’t let politicians work around it.

Their reasons for doing so remain valid today. The widespread introduction of Las Vegas-style casinos in Florida brings dubious benefits and potentially serious consequences for our state. Any decision to go in this direction should be done so with due diligence, much caution and voter input.

Voters exercised such caution when considering five gambling referendums from 1978 to 2004. Three times they rejected large casino resorts in Florida. But they also approved the Florida Lottery and the limited introduction of slot machines in Broward and Miami-Dade pari-mutuels.

Since 2005, when Florida lawmakers began attempting to take over gambling decisions, the restraint of voters has been replaced by the politics of Tallahassee. The drumbeat for more and bigger casinos from the powerful gambling lobby has been loud and non-stop.

There is no end game here. No matter how many casinos might be approved, there always will be pressure for more. We have seen this in other states, where the gambling industry continues to push for expansion even in markets so glutted that existing casinos are losing business and even going bankrupt, sometimes at taxpayer expense.

Consider New Jersey. The Atlantic City casino market imploded in 2014 because of an over-saturated market, throwing thousands out of jobs and the city into an economic depression.

However, New Jersey requires voter approval of gambling expansion. And by an overwhelming margin, voters rejected new casinos.

Voters serve as a controlling mechanism on an industry that often has no self-control of its own. They slow down decision-making and ensure the pros and cons of casino expansion are fully and publicly vetted.

As the organization representing Florida businesses, the Florida Chamber is focused on making Florida more competitive, and the casino business model is anything but that. It is not one that grows the economic pie, but rather one that often cannibalizes existing economic activity.

Casinos represent the past, whereas Florida is moving into the future.

This year Florida’s GDP topped $1 trillion, which if we were a country would place us 17th in the world. Florida’s economy is the 20th most diversified economy in American and wages are increasing.

U.S. News & World Report ranked us first nationally in higher education and the University of Florida now ranks among the top 10 public universities.

Noted University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith describes Florida’s recovery from the Great Recession as “Phoenix-like.” One reason for that is Florida’s remarkably resilient tourism industry.

The Florida Chamber sees strong economic growth in Florida for the next 30 years.

All this is not by accident. It is due to a competitive business climate, smart policies and strong fiscal leadership.

The international casino conglomerates are desperate to get a toehold in Florida, not to add to what we have created but to feed off it.

Florida has come too far to go down this path without the people of Florida having a say. I’ll be voting yes on Amendment 3 because Florida’s future is worth protecting.

Mark Wilson is CEO of the Florida Chamber of Commerce. Email: mwilson@flchamber.com.

 

First Appeared in The Florida Times-Union

 

 

 

Don’t fall for it: Casinos are not good for children, education

By Peter Schorsch

Florida Politics

 

Did you know gambling casinos are good for children?

Spoiler alert: They’re not.

Yet that is the exact claim casino operators are making in an attempt to block Amendment 3, which would put voters in charge of any gambling expansion in Florida.

Using that logic, if politicians were not allowed to populate Florida with casinos, education funding will be gutted, and our children will resemble the poor, forlorn souls pictured on campaign propaganda.

At its foundation, the premise is a lie: Amendment 3 has nothing to do with education.

As a recent Miami Herald headline noted: “Don’t let the gambling industry confuse you on Amendment 3. It’s not about schools.”

The casinos are exploiting people’s natural tendency to support children and education. It’s disinformation honed by the industry’s political operatives in state after state, year after year.

Whenever they want to expand casinos, out come the “poor” children and schools.

And what happens if casinos win and set up shop? The money goes to them and politicians, and not schools.

Florida saw this in 2004 when South Florida pari-mutuels promised $500 million windfalls for public education if they were allowed to have slot machines. In fact, they said it was an “absolute guarantee” that they would back.

They got their slots, but the schools never got the half-billion.

Add to that the Florida Lottery windfall (which schools also never got), and Florida currently ranks 42nd nationally in school funding.

Florida teachers, who also rank 42nd in salary, are forced to pay for school supplies (nearly $500 a year) out of their own meager paychecks.

Of course, all that will turn around if only Floridians allow — wait for it — even more gambling.

Joining the big lie this time is MGM Resorts International, a gambling conglomerate based in Las Vegas, looking for a jackpot in Florida.

If you want to know how casinos helped schools in Nevada, consider this: The state’s education system has ranked dead last in the nation for the past three years, according to the prestigious Quality Counts analysis performed by Education Week. It ranks below Mississippi in per-pupil spending — by more than $1,000 a student.

Does anyone seriously believe MGM Resorts cares anything about Florida school children?

MGM had done this before, spending millions on a casino referendum in Maryland in 2012. That campaign promised, “millions for Maryland schools, guaranteed.”

Critics called it “slots for tots.” The Baltimore Sun called it “nothing more than Las Vegas casino hooey.”

And that’s what it turned out to be.

The massive MGM National Harbor Casino and Hotel is now up and running in Maryland, while schools struggle without the money that never arrived.

State Comptroller Peter Franchot told Baltimore’s WJZ-TV: “The problem is, it was always a hoax and it’s still a hoax perpetrated on the public.”

A report in CityLab noted: “Experts on gambling and state funding say that Maryland is only one of the dozens of states taking gambling revenue meant for education and using it for other purposes.”

Are voters going to fall for this again?

Will we let the same people who guaranteed schools $500 million from South Florida slot machines, and the same Las Vegas casino conglomerate that guaranteed millions for Maryland schools, pull the same old scam again?

Casino interests are populating their flyers and TV advertisements against Amendment 3 with pictures of children who look like their cellphones have been confiscated takes cynicism to a new level.

Perhaps it’s desperation setting in.

A recent Associated Industries of Florida poll is showing 69 percent of voters support Amendment 3, with only 17 percent opposed. AIF has been tracking the amendment since April with only small variations in those numbers.

Apparently, Florida voters are beginning to recognize “Las Vegas casino BS” when they see it.

 

First appeared in Florida Politics

 

 

LTE: Give voters control on Florida casinos

What do states as diverse as Texas and California, or New York and Georgia, all have in common?

Like about half the states in the country, they allow voters to have the final say on gambling expansion. This recognizes the fact that casinos can have a profound impact in the communities and states where they are located. And therefore the people should have a direct say in approving them.

This is what Amendment 3 will do for Florida. Voting yes will put the people of our state in charge of gambling decisions.

It is a right we used to enjoy. A provision added to the Florida Constitution in 1968 called for voter control of gambling. From 1978 through 2004, five gambling initiatives went to voters. Three times they rejected Las Vegas-style casinos, but they also approved the Florida Lottery and slot machines in pari-mutuels in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

But after 2004, politicians in Tallahassee began ignoring the constitutional provision, ended voting and assumed control of gambling decisions. And ever since, we have had one gambling bill after another, crafted with the assistance of casino lobbyists, introduced in the Florida Legislature.

Amendment 3 rejoins Florida with the other states that require voter approval of gambling decisions. It restores voters’ rights so the politicians can never again take away our authority over gambling decisions.

This is your state. Gambling expansion should be your decision. Vote yes on Amendment 3.

Cheryl Taaffe, Port Orange

Letter-to-the-Editor first appeared in the Daytona Beach News-Journal

 

 

 

LTE: Amendment 3 offers voters a voice on casinos

Casinos can have major impacts on a community. Research shows they affect everything from local businesses to crime rates to social indicators such as gambling addiction and bankruptcy.

These are all reasons voters should be in charge of gambling expansion decisions. A yes vote on Amendment 3 will make that happen.

Right now, politicians and lobbyists in Tallahassee can put casinos anywhere they want. A prime example is Miami Beach, a city thriving with world-class restaurants, shopping, entertainment and cultural attractions.

The leaders and residents there adamantly opposed casinos, with former Mayor Phillip Levine stating “casinos are for cities that don’t have a lot going for them,” and Miami Beach “doesn’t in any shape, form or imagination need casinos.”

Yet, gambling interests are active in Tallahassee trying to get a casino built in Miami Beach. They don’t care what voters think or what residents think.

Amendment 3 gives the people of Florida the final say in these decisions. This is why the big casinos, including those hoping to set up shop in Miami Beach, so strongly oppose it. And why the Mayor of Miami Beach endorses it.

We have so much vested in our state and the communities we live in. We should have a say on an issue as important as casino gambling.

I strongly recommend voting yes on Amendment 3.

Mindy Koch, Boca Raton

Letter-to-the-Editor first appeared in the Sun-Sentinel

 

 

VOTERS IN CHARGE ANNOUNCES SOUTHWEST FLORIDA LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, October 24, 2018

CONTACT

Mike Thomas

Mike@VotersinCharge.org

 

VOTERS IN CHARGE ANNOUNCES SOUTHWEST FLORIDA LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE

 

FORT MYERS, FL—Voters in Charge, the political committee sponsoring the statewide Yes on 3 campaign, today continued unveiling its local leadership committees. Members of local leadership committees include community, business, law enforcement and religious leaders throughout the state who are committed to ensuring that Florida voters are put in charge of casino gambling decisions in Florida.  Today the campaign proudly announces its local leadership for Southwest Florida. The list consists of a diverse group of prominent community leaders, business owners, and former elected officials from both sides of the aisle.

 

SWFL Chair:

Representative Ray Rodrigues, FL House Majority Leader

 

SWFL Committee Members:

Representative Matt Caldwell

Commissioner Bill McDaniel, Collier County BOCC

Commissioner Brian Hamman, Lee County BOCC

Commissioner Bill Truex, Charlotte County BOCC

Mayor Randy Henderson, Ft Myers Mayor

Jonathan Martin

Kevin Karnes, President SWFL Young Republicans

Carmen Salome

Luca L. Hickman. Esq.

Joseph Welsh

 

Amendment 3 ensures that Florida voters shall have the exclusive right to decide whether to authorize casino gambling in the State of Florida. Recent polling shows that more than 70 percent of Florida voters support this amendment. Amendment 3 enjoys bipartisan support and has been endorsed by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida League of Women Voters, and the Florida Conference of the NAACP, among others.

“We are thrilled to have the support of so many pillars of the community for this important amendment,” said Voters in Charge Chairman John Sowinski. “For most of our lifetimes, decisions about casino gambling were left up to the voters. It is past time to return that right to Floridians and take it away from politicians and special interest groups in Tallahassee.”

For more information about the Yes on 3 campaign, including a local contact and regional office, please visit https://votersincharge.org/regional-offices/

 

 

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The Daily Commercial Recommends YES on Amendment 3

AMENDMENT 3

Amendment 3 is subtitled “Voter control of gambling in Florida,” and according to the ballot summary, approval of the measure “ensures that Florida voters shall have the exclusive right to decide whether to authorize casino gambling by requiring that in order for casino gambling to be authorized under Florida law, it must be approved by Florida voters” in a statewide referendum.

The proposal seeks, in essence, to re-establish and codify the role of voters in the approval and expansion of gambling — long a hot topic in Florida.

In recent decades, the Legislature and governor have asserted more influence over casino gambling. This amendment is intended, in part, to reverse that trend.

The Seminole Tribe of Florida, which operates casinos and offers various forms of gambling, and Disney, which has opposed expansion of gaming, have contributed heavily — in their self-interest — to the committee behind this initiative. Those contributions are enough to give voters pause but not enough to warrant opposition; after all, the tribe and Disney approach the issue from opposite sides.

Preserving voter control of gambling is important. It also important to protect the Florida brand, and as we have seen in other states that have legalized widespread casino gambling, it rarely leads to the positive things that are promised up front.

We recommend voting YES on Amendment 3.

Click here for the Daily Commercial Recommends YES on Amendment 3