Monday, March 7, 2005 | 9:09 a.m.
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- The visions could not be more different.
Those who want Las Vegas-style slot machines in South Florida insist they will create jobs and pump money into schools. Opponents believe they will transform Florida from a family-friendly destination into a gambling mecca that will dramatically increase crime and other social ills.
Voters in the state's two most-populous counties, Miami-Dade and Broward, will decide Tuesday whether to allow slot machines at seven dog and horse racetracks and jai-alai frontons in South Florida.
Teachers and pari-mutuel interests are lobbying hard for passage, saying the slots will bring thousands of jobs, boost the local economy and deliver perhaps $500 million annually to schools. The seven pari-mutuels have tried to make the deal palatable to voters by promising a 30 percent cut of slot revenue for education.
Gov. Jeb Bush, a staunch gambling opponent, has accused the slots movement of "seducing the voters with the hollow promise of more education funding." Bush and anti-gambling groups, who include religious conservatives, see slots as a plague. They fear an increase in crime and compulsive gambling.
"It's going to be people of moderate income getting in buses with coins in their pocket, showing up and sitting on a stool," Bush said. "And as I understand it, the loss factor for them is 90 percent. This is a bad deal."
Bush said he'll fight a "guerrilla war" to defeat the slots measure. He made a last-ditch push Friday to personally appeal to voters in South Florida, hoping he can derail the plan.
Indian casinos and operators of gambling cruises to nowhere fear competition and have helped fund the campaign to block the new casinos. Disney World, apparently concerned that they may harm Florida's image and siphon tourists from theme parks, gave $25,000 last year to the anti-slots movement.
"It's a little confusing," said Carmine Trulli, a retiree and horseplayer who plans to vote for the gambling measure. "Anything that gives more money to schools and gets more people out of the unemployment lines, well, you've got to think that's good."
Not so, says Joe Fontana, another retiree and a nongambler from Miami Beach.
"This will create a lot of problems for working families," he said. "I'm leery about all the promises we're hearing turning out to be false promises."
Florida has a strong history of opposing efforts to expand gambling at land-based casinos. Indian tribes operate the only casinos in the state -- but they are restricted to bingo-type slots and low-stakes poker games in which gamblers play against each other and not against the house.
Voters statewide broke with tradition in November and approved a gambling amendment that would allow slots at seven pari-mutuel facilities in South Florida counties if local residents approve.
If voters in Miami-Dade and Broward counties say yes, state lawmakers will decide how the plan will be enacted. They'll say how many slot machines and what types are legal, plus how they'll be taxed and how long they can operate daily. Opponents are pushing lawmakers to write rules that are tough on the new casinos.
Several states are looking at gambling this year as way to help balance their budgets. In Maryland, the state House narrowly passed a measure last month to legalize slots and create $1 billion in annual revenue. Florida voters have rejected three gambling expansion plans since the 1970s.
But some grumble that the state already has a thriving gambling industry that doesn't contribute money to government coffers or the local communities.
"What we have now is completely untaxed, unregulated and uncontrolled gambling," said Fred Havenick, president of Flagler Dog Track in Miami. "The Indians, the boats to nowhere, the Internet, 1-800-Antigua, are all removing money from our community, taking money out and giving nothing back."
The notion of slot revenue revitalizing a community is simply untrue, counters opponents like Davie Mayor Tom Truex, who calls Vegas-style slots "the crack cocaine of slot machines."
Flagler is one facility hoping for slots; others are Hollywood Greyhound Track, Dania Jai-Alai, Pompano Park and Gulfstream Park in Broward County, and Miami Jai-Alai and Calder Race Course in Miami-Dade. Many of the pari-mutuels have spent big money to support the move, which would prop up a fledgling racing industry.
Perhaps the biggest question, however, is how slots would affect tribal gaming. The Miccosukee and Seminole tribes already have casinos in South Florida, but cannot yet offer Class III, or Vegas-style gaming, where players can bet against the house.
While those tribes have opposed the push to allow slots at the pari-mutuels, approval by voters could be a win for them. It could open the door for the tribes to expand into Class III games.
Miccosukee leaders asked Bush last year about adding Vegas-style slots at their casino; the Seminoles have not formally inquired about the issue. Industry expert Michael Pollock of Atlantic City said he expects Florida's tribal casinos to pursue table games, such as black jack, if slots expand.
"Having slots does not necessarily mean you have to have table games," Pollock said. "But there's a likelihood Class III gaming will rise. In my view, it's an inevitable evolution."
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