Florida legislators break gambling plan stalemate

Florida has moved closer to a gambling deal after members of the House back off its long-time stance of blocking gambling expansion in the Sunshine State.

Palm Beach Post reported that the House broke the gambling plan impasse on Wednesday after it decided to offer a compromise with Senate leaders to get the deal done before the legislative session adjourns next week.

House and Senate negotiators met in the morning to get an omnibus gambling bill for 2017 done. Sen. Bill Galvano, the Senate’s chief negotiator on gambling issues, said the House made what he described a “substantial offer” as part of a compromise to move the gambling deal forward.

The offer includes authorizing decoupling for dog and horse tracks if county voters OK it in a local referendum. Under Florida’s law, dog and horse tracks are required to run live races if they wish to offer other gambling such as cardrooms. Getting rid of that requirement is known as decoupling.