Florida House Speaker Allan Bense was recently quoted as saying that a special session on state slots regulations could be held by the House in October. However, Bense also said that a November session is an option too.
Last fall, Florida voters agreed to a constitutional amendment that authorized Miami- Dade and Broward counties to decide independently whether or not to permit the operation of slot machines at their gaming facilities. Broward voters approved the idea. Legislative authorities were given until July 1 to produce such regulations, but did not meet that deadline. Ultimately, a Broward county judge ruled that local commissioners could produce these rules by themselves.
This course of events made the slots matter even more urgent than before. According to Bense, negotiations between the House and Senate are at the advanced stages. The two legislative bodies have to agree on two major subjects: how much tax to collect and the style of the future slots.
