Some Florida conservatives donât like gambling. Are they being heard?
Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican leaders are often attuned to the concerns of conservative voters.
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Pastor Kevin Baird speaks to a crowd protesting gambling at the Florida Capitol during a special session centered around passing gambling legislation, Tuesday, May 18, 2021, in Tallahassee. [ STEVE CANNON | AP ]
Updated Yesterday
TALLAHASSEE â Mary Lib Stevenson and her husband, Alan Stevenson, are the kind of voters who wish the Florida Legislature were more conservative. Mary is the president of a Christian group that advocates for teaching creationism in schools, opposing gay marriage and fighting the expansion of legal gambling. Alan sits on the groupâs board.
Florida lawmakers ready to approve gambling laws but legal challenges await
If a court strikes down the provision opening the state to legalized sports betting, the Tribe has agreed to keep paying the state in order to continue its other new games â such as roulette and craps.
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Updated May 18
TALLAHASSEE â A sweeping gambling deal that allows mobile sports betting anywhere in Florida neared completion Tuesday, but one big question remained: Is it legal?
On the second day of a week-long special session to ratify the agreement between the state and Seminole Tribe, a House committee and the full Senate voted to create a new state agency called the Gaming Control Commission and agreed to allow the Tribe to offer online sports betting as well as full casino games in exchange for at least $500 million a year in payments to the state for the next 30 years.