FLORIDA GAMBLING REGULATORS: Inept or Complicit?
Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering is a part of the problem, not a part of the solution, when it comes to having coherent gambling policy in the state of Florida. But the question is, are the Division’s bizarre actions when it comes to authorizing barrel racing – and now hankie-drop racing at the Gretna facility in North Florida a sign of bureaucratic ineptitude, or an example of regulators being complicit with gambling interest lawyer/lobbyists whose aim is to circumvent decades-old laws?
In light of these developments, No Casinos released this video and No Casinos President John Sowinski issued statement below:
“Days after a Judge struck down the Division’s approval of barrel racing as pari-mutuel horse racing at the Gretna facility, the Division approved equally bogus forms of horse racing there. The reality is, the operators at Gretna don’t want to race horses, but are trying to establish lower regulatory thresholds in order to have the privilege of offering lucrative simulcast betting, poker rooms, and they hope one day – slot machines.”
“The Division’s actions regarding Gretna have the potential to breed the kind of loopholes that allowed illegal internet cafés to proliferate across the state. The Division’s indefensible actions in the Gretna matter risk an expansion of gambling throughout Florida that has never been authorized by voters or our elected officials.”
“It’s time for the Division to start regulating gambling and stop expanding gambling.”
Contact: John Sowinski
Phone: 407-608-5930
Email: info@nocasinos.org