The Seminole Gaming Compact is still a hot topic among State Legislatures. The compact was signed by Gov. Christ a few years back and allowed Seminoles exclusive rights to Blackjack and a few other table 'card' games. In exchange for the 'exclusivity', the compact stated that the Seminoles would pay the state $150 million a year. Sounds like a lot right? Well...not so fast. The Seminoles have quite the hot spot when it comes to casinos here in Florida. The Hard Rock properties in Hollywood and Tampa rake in the money and are slowly becoming a 'destination' location for tourists. While the $150 million sounds great, think about all of the 'taxable' money the state would lose out on. If gaming revenue for the Seminoles goes through the roof...we lose out.

Just recently, Florida Republicans are starting to come around to the idea of giving the Seminoles some competition. They are thinking about opening up the possibility of a vote that would allow each county to vote on expanded gaming. That would bring blackjack to other facilities...with other table games possibly in the loop. They seem to be on the right track. Gaming is here to stay...and Florida needs to be at the top of the tourism chain. Giving away this popular segment to the Seminoles is just plain stupid. They are talking about creating some gaming commissions to oversee the full casinos (should they happen) and would spend a lot of time planning on how to make the expansion 'smart' and not take away from Florida's charm. What they don't want to do is make parts of Florida a gaming mess. It's totally possible to expand without creating a casino mess. Mandate that all casinos should have convention space and hotel rooms. Make them bid on a casino license and only approve those that would bring a positive vibe. Think about all of the convention business that would come around once the economy picks up. Florida would have the family vacation market, some gaming and the beaches. Those in the colder states would flock here and there would lots more revenue to keep our communities running.

Lets hope this doesn't drag on for another 10 years.