Florida Gaming Bill Pulled For Lack Of SupportPlans Would Have Allowed For The Transferring Of Gaming Licenses |
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It looks like a casino won’t be coming to South Florida’s famed Fontainebleau resort. Jeffrey Soffer, owner of Fontainebleau Development, had hoped a new bill in the legislature would allow him to transfer his gaming license to the property.
Soffer, who also opened a new Fontainebleau casino in Las Vegas in December, has lobbied in recent years for a change in gaming law. The new bill would have allowed gaming licenses to be transferred to another property within a 30-mile radius.
However, the state senate’s Regulated Industries Committee scrapped a planned meeting set for Monday to consider the bill. Miami Beach government officials, residents, and leaders in South Florida expressed opposition to the plan in the days leading up to the meeting.
Opponents Rally Against Plan
Gov. Ron DeSantis® supported the bill and urged lawmakers to approve it. However, ramped-up opposition was enough to derail those plans. The bill may have also benefited Donald Trump, who owns a golf resort in Doral. The former president’s son, Eric Trump, has called the resort “unmatched from a gaming perspective.”
Billionaire hedge fund owner Ken Griffin was one of those who spoke out in opposition to possibly bringing additional casinos to South Florida.
“Allowing casinos to harm thriving communities and undermine Florida families is like willingly dumping toxic waste into the Everglades,” Griffin noted in a statement. “Casinos are a bad bet for Florida.”
As the meeting approached, the Miami Beach Commission scheduled the use of a plane to bring 100 officials and residents to Tallahassee to protest the bill. That may have led to the meeting’s cancellation, according to reports, and the shelving of the bill. Support among legislators apparently waned recently as well, and its passage became an uphill climb.
Reports indicate Soffer hoped to transfer the gaming license from his Big Easy Casino and Hollywood Greyhound Track at Hallandale Beach to the Fontainebleau property. Those plans now look to be derailed.
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