Bill Text: FL S1054 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Pari-mutuel Permitholders

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2024-03-08 - Died in Regulated Industries [S1054 Detail]

Download: Florida-2024-S1054-Introduced.html
       Florida Senate - 2024                                    SB 1054
       
       
        
       By Senator Ingoglia
       
       
       
       
       
       11-00639-24                                           20241054__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to pari-mutuel permitholders; amending
    3         ss. 550.01215 and 550.054, F.S.; deleting a
    4         requirement that certain permitholders show that their
    5         permits have not been disapproved or recalled at a
    6         later election when submitting subsequent annual
    7         applications to the Florida Gaming Control Commission;
    8         amending s. 550.0555, F.S.; revising legislative
    9         findings with respect to the relocation of greyhound
   10         dogracing permits; authorizing greyhound dogracing
   11         permitholders to relocate if specified conditions are
   12         met; voiding an additional permit if the commission
   13         approves a relocation; specifying areas to which a
   14         permitholder may not relocate; amending s. 550.0651,
   15         F.S.; providing that pari-mutuel facilities that
   16         relocated in accordance with the act are not subject
   17         to municipal restrictions on the establishment of such
   18         facilities; amending s. 551.102, F.S.; revising the
   19         definition of the term “eligible facility” to conform
   20         to changes made by the act; amending s. 551.114, F.S.;
   21         requiring that a slot machine gaming area of a
   22         relocated pari-mutuel facility be at the location for
   23         which the relocation was approved; amending s.
   24         849.086, F.S.; providing that pari-mutuel facilities
   25         that relocated in accordance with the act are not
   26         subject to municipal restrictions on the establishment
   27         of cardrooms; making a technical change; providing an
   28         effective date.
   29          
   30  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   31  
   32         Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 550.01215, Florida
   33  Statutes, is amended to read:
   34         550.01215 License application; periods of operation;
   35  license fees; bond.—
   36         (2) After the first license has been issued to a
   37  permitholder, all subsequent annual applications for a license
   38  shall be accompanied by proof, in such form as the commission
   39  may by rule require, that the permitholder continues to possess
   40  the qualifications prescribed by this chapter, and that the
   41  permit has not been disapproved at a later election.
   42         Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (9) of section
   43  550.054, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   44         550.054 Application for permit to conduct pari-mutuel
   45  wagering.—
   46         (9)(a) After a permit has been granted by the commission
   47  and has been ratified and approved by the majority of the
   48  electors participating in the election in the county designated
   49  in the permit, the commission shall grant to the lawful
   50  permitholder, subject to the conditions of this chapter, a
   51  license to conduct pari-mutuel operations under this chapter,
   52  and, except as provided in s. 550.5251, the commission shall fix
   53  annually the time, place, and number of days during which pari
   54  mutuel operations may be conducted by the permitholder at the
   55  location fixed in the permit and ratified in the election. After
   56  the first license has been issued to the holder of a ratified
   57  permit for racing in any county, all subsequent annual
   58  applications for a license by that permitholder must be
   59  accompanied by proof, in such form as the commission requires,
   60  that the ratified permitholder still possesses all the
   61  qualifications prescribed by this chapter and that the permit
   62  has not been recalled at a later election held in the county.
   63         Section 3. Section 550.0555, Florida Statutes, is amended
   64  to read:
   65         550.0555 Greyhound dogracing permits; relocation within a
   66  county; conditions.—
   67         (1) It is the finding of the Legislature that substantial
   68  state revenues are derived from greyhound dogracing
   69  permitholders’ pari-mutuel wagering activities as well as other
   70  authorized gaming activities associated with such permits,
   71  including the operation of cardrooms and slot machines. The
   72  Legislature further finds that revenues derived from greyhound
   73  dogracing permitholders’ pari-mutuel wagering activities and
   74  other gaming activities are adversely impacted absent the right
   75  to move the location for which the permit has been issued to
   76  another location and that, consistent with the Legislature’s
   77  regulation of pari-mutuel wagering permitholders, authorizing
   78  the relocation of permits will preserve and further enhance
   79  state revenues on greyhound dogracing provides substantial
   80  revenues to the state. It is the further finding that, in some
   81  cases, this revenue-producing ability is hindered due to the
   82  lack of provisions allowing the relocation of existing dogracing
   83  operations. It is therefore declared that state revenues derived
   84  from greyhound dogracing will continue to be jeopardized if
   85  provisions allowing the relocation of such greyhound racing
   86  permits are not implemented. This enactment is made pursuant to,
   87  and for the purpose of, implementing such provisions.
   88         (2) Any holder of a valid outstanding permit for greyhound
   89  dogracing in a county in which there is only one dogracing
   90  permit issued, as well as any holder of a valid outstanding
   91  permit for jai alai in a county where only one jai alai permit
   92  is issued, is authorized, without the necessity of an additional
   93  county referendum required under s. 550.0651, to move the
   94  location for which the permit has been issued to another
   95  location within a 30-mile radius of the location fixed in the
   96  permit issued in that county, provided the move does not cross
   97  the county boundary, that such relocation is approved under the
   98  zoning regulations of the county or municipality in which the
   99  permit is to be located as a planned development use, consistent
  100  with the comprehensive plan, and that such move is approved by
  101  the commission after it is determined at a proceeding pursuant
  102  to chapter 120 in the county affected that the move is necessary
  103  to ensure the revenue-producing capability of the permittee
  104  without deteriorating the revenue-producing capability of any
  105  other pari-mutuel permittee within 50 miles; the distance shall
  106  be measured on a straight line from the nearest property line of
  107  one racing plant or jai alai fronton to the nearest property
  108  line of the other.
  109         (3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), any greyhound dogracing
  110  permitholder, without the necessity of an additional county
  111  referendum required under s. 550.0651, s. 551.101, or s.
  112  849.086(17), as applicable, may move the location for which the
  113  permit has been issued to another location within a 30-mile
  114  radius of the location fixed in the permit issued, provided that
  115  the requirements of this subsection are met and the county to
  116  which the permit will relocate has already approved pari-mutuel
  117  wagering and cardrooms and slot machine operations, as
  118  applicable. Notwithstanding any local government regulations,
  119  permitting, or ordinances, and if the conditions of this
  120  subsection are met, such permitholder may continue to operate at
  121  the new location all pari-mutuel wagering and gaming activities
  122  that it is already authorized and licensed to operate, including
  123  activities conducted pursuant to chapters 550 and 551 and s.
  124  849.086. The greyhound dogracing permit proposed for relocation
  125  must, at the time of relocation, be authorized to conduct pari
  126  mutuel activities and authorized to operate a cardroom or slot
  127  machines in addition to having a majority ultimate owner in
  128  common with another currently licensed greyhound dogracing
  129  permit, regardless of whether the permits are located in the
  130  same county. Upon the commission’s final approval of the
  131  relocation and issuance of all operating licenses for the new
  132  location, the second greyhound dogracing permit is forfeited to
  133  the state and is thereafter void.
  134         (4) A pari-mutuel permitholder that relocates its pari
  135  mutuel facility pursuant to subsection (3) and that is
  136  authorized to operate slot machines at such facility may not
  137  relocate the pari-mutuel facility to a location in Miami-Dade or
  138  Broward Counties which is within a 15-mile radius, measured in a
  139  straight line, of any facility in Broward County operated by the
  140  Seminole Tribe of Florida which offers or is authorized to offer
  141  class III gaming, as defined in the federal Indian Gaming
  142  Regulatory Act of 1988.
  143         Section 4. Subsection (6) of section 550.0651, Florida
  144  Statutes, is amended to read:
  145         550.0651 Elections for ratification of permits; municipal
  146  prohibitions.—
  147         (6) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a
  148  municipality may prohibit the establishment of a pari-mutuel
  149  facility on or after July 1, 2021, in its jurisdiction. This
  150  subsection does not apply to a permitholder who held an
  151  operating license for the conduct of pari-mutuel wagering for
  152  fiscal year 2020-2021 in the municipality’s jurisdiction, or to
  153  a pari-mutuel facility that was previously approved by the
  154  municipality, or a pari-mutuel facility that is authorized to
  155  relocate pursuant to s. 550.0555(3).
  156         Section 5. Subsection (4) of section 551.102, Florida
  157  Statutes, is amended to read:
  158         551.102 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term:
  159         (4) “Eligible facility” means any licensed pari-mutuel
  160  facility located in Miami-Dade County or Broward County existing
  161  at the time of adoption of s. 23, Art. X of the State
  162  Constitution that has conducted live racing or games during
  163  calendar years 2002 and 2003 and has been approved by a majority
  164  of voters in a countywide referendum to have slot machines at
  165  such facility in the respective county; any licensed pari-mutuel
  166  facility located within a county as defined in s. 125.011,
  167  provided such facility has conducted live racing for 2
  168  consecutive calendar years immediately preceding its application
  169  for a slot machine license, pays the required license fee, and
  170  meets the other requirements of this chapter; or any licensed
  171  pari-mutuel facility in any other county in which a majority of
  172  voters have approved slot machines at such facilities in a
  173  countywide referendum held pursuant to a statutory or
  174  constitutional authorization after the effective date of this
  175  section in the respective county, provided such facility has
  176  conducted a full schedule of live racing for 2 consecutive
  177  calendar years immediately preceding its application for a slot
  178  machine license, pays the required licensed fee, and meets the
  179  other requirements of this chapter. The term includes any such
  180  facility that has relocated pursuant to s. 550.0555(3) and
  181  remains eligible to conduct slot machine operations at the new
  182  location.
  183         Section 6. Subsection (4) of section 551.114, Florida
  184  Statutes, is amended to read:
  185         551.114 Slot machine gaming areas.—
  186         (4) Designated slot machine gaming areas must be located at
  187  the address specified in the licensed permitholder’s slot
  188  machine license issued for fiscal year 2020-2021.
  189  Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a pari-mutuel permit with an
  190  associated license for slot machine gaming relocates pursuant to
  191  s. 550.0555(3), the designated slot machine gaming area must be
  192  located at the location approved for the relocation of the pari
  193  mutuel permit.
  194         Section 7. Subsections (16) and (17) of section 849.086,
  195  Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
  196         849.086 Cardrooms authorized.—
  197         (16) LOCAL GOVERNMENT APPROVAL.—
  198         (a) The commission may shall not issue any initial license
  199  under this section except upon proof in such form as the
  200  commission may prescribe that the local government where the
  201  applicant for such license desires to conduct cardroom gaming
  202  has voted to approve such activity by a majority vote of the
  203  governing body of the municipality or the governing body of the
  204  county if the facility is not located in a municipality.
  205         (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a
  206  municipality may prohibit the establishment of a cardroom on or
  207  after July 1, 2021, within its jurisdiction. This paragraph does
  208  not apply to a licensed pari-mutuel permitholder who held an
  209  operating license for the conduct of pari-mutuel wagering for
  210  fiscal year 2020-2021 in the municipality’s jurisdiction, or to
  211  a cardroom that was previously approved by the municipality, or
  212  a cardroom operated at a pari-mutuel facility authorized to
  213  relocate pursuant to s. 550.0555(3).
  214         (17) CHANGE OF LOCATION; REFERENDUM.—
  215         (a) Notwithstanding any provisions of this section, no
  216  cardroom gaming license issued under this section shall be
  217  transferred, or reissued when such reissuance is in the nature
  218  of a transfer, so as to permit or authorize a licensee to change
  219  the location of the cardroom except upon proof in such form as
  220  the commission may prescribe that a referendum election has been
  221  held:
  222         1. If the proposed new location is within the same county
  223  as the already licensed location, in the county where the
  224  licensee desires to conduct cardroom gaming and that a majority
  225  of the electors voting on the question in such election voted in
  226  favor of the transfer of such license. Notwithstanding the
  227  foregoing However, the commission shall transfer, without
  228  requirement of a referendum election, the cardroom license of
  229  any permitholder that relocated its permit pursuant to s.
  230  550.0555.
  231         2. If the proposed new location is not within the same
  232  county as the already licensed location, in the county where the
  233  licensee desires to conduct cardroom gaming and that a majority
  234  of the electors voting on that question in each such election
  235  voted in favor of the transfer of such license.
  236         (b) The expense of each referendum held under the
  237  provisions of this subsection shall be borne by the licensee
  238  requesting the transfer.
  239         Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.

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