Urgent: We need all hands on deck!
Take action NOW to STOP the largest expansion of casino gambling in American History
Action Steps:
Call and or Email These 4 Legislators
Just call or email your legislator and ask them “VOTE NO to the special session proposals to expand casino gambling in Florida. “
Legislator #1 Senate President Wilton Simpson:
Call: 850-487-5229
Email: [email protected]
Legislator #2 House Speaker Chris Sprowls:
Call: 850-717-5000
Email: [email protected]
Legislator #3 Your District Florida State Senator (See Below)
Legislator #4 Your District Member of the House (See Below)
To quickly obtain the name, phone number and email address for your District’s Florida State Senator & House Member click HERE and type in your home address. The Upper Chamber is your Senate Representative, the Lower Chamber is your House Representative.
Here Are 3 Simple Talking Points
Phone or email the following message:
- #1 Please vote “NO” to create a separate Gaming Commission that could be influenced by pro-gambling stakeholders interested in gambling expansion. Retain the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation as the state agency that regulates Pari-mutuel operations.
- #2 Please vote “NO” to taking any additional steps toward allowing local Pari-mutuels to operate stand-alone local neighborhood gambling operations. Each local city or county originally voted to approve Pari-mutuel dog racing, horse racing Jai-Alai….not a stand-alone local gambling house in what is now in many cases a low-income neighborhood.
- #3 Please vote “NO” to allow the Seminole Tribe to operate exclusive sports betting in Florida, to obtain 3 more new casinos, and to add craps and roulette wheels at the Tribe’s 7 locations.
Florida is known and branded as the #1 family tourist destination anywhere on the globe. Massive state tourism revenue is collected from these family-oriented visitors. Las Vegas tried to mix families and gambling…it did not work. Vegas returned to luring gamblers with all manner of adult entertainment. Don’t increase Florida’s crime rate that comes with expanded gambling operations.
(The above action alert text is courtesy of Bill Bunkley and the Florida Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.)
Attend the Rally for Florida’s Future:
THE ISSUE
Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a massive, all-exclusive state-sanctioned gambling expansion deal with the Seminole Indian Tribe of Florida. However, the terms the Governor has proposed to the Seminole Tribe must be approved by the Florida Legislature. Coming up on Monday, May 17, 2021, the Florida Legislature will begin a Special Legislative Session to consider, among other related gambling issues, whether to approve, amend or disapprove this massive, exclusive gambling expansion.
THE IMPACT ACROSS FLORIDA IF APPROVED
There are three gambling-related issues the Legislature is expected to take up beginning on Monday, May 17. One would create a Gaming Control Commission, another would allow Pari-mutuel Permit holders (17 local facilities statewide) to no longer be required to run their live events of jai-alai, harness racing, and dog racing, but allow their existing card room gambling operations to continue, the first step (nose under the camel’s tent) to a possible local casino in some of the poorest neighborhoods around Florida.
The third issue is the proposed massive, exclusive gambling compact deal with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Its biggest prize is to bring sports gambling to Florida. The Seminole Tribe would be the sole state “hub” whereby all the Pari-mutuels would contract with the tribe for a 60/40 revenue split to operate sports gambling at their statewide facilities. It is a 30-year exclusive revenue-sharing with the state. Three new casinos are allowed to be built on Seminole Tribe properties. Also, a lucrative mega-deal involving the possible transfer of one Pari-mutuel permit to the Fountainebleau Hotel on Miami Beach, which the owner has desired for years.
In short, the proposal:
1) Ignores the will of the people
2) Violates the State and Federal Constitutions
3) Forces the largest expansion of gambling in Florida history
Additional Resources:
For in-depth research on the issues, news articles, and where to sign up for bus transportation in Tampa, Orlando, and Jacksonville click HERE: https://www.flfamily.org/issues-research/legislative-update/gambling
Make an online contribution to help us with this massive mobilization effort HERE:
Florida Family Action
4853 S. Orange Avenue | Suite C | Orlando, FL 32806
[email protected] | Phone: 407-418-0250
Please do not pass the bill to have gambling in the state of Florida,it will only lead to crime and we do not need it.
Please vote against expanding Florida gambling. The lottery promised 3 decades ago to help our schools has degraded it. Our kids selling candies and such is a disgrace. Education in USA has declined. Gambling carries more crime than benefits.
Please vote NO on casino gambling expansion. Thanks! we need to stay family friendly, and not follow the bad example of Las Vegas, which is NOT family friendly. Florida is one of the BEST States in America; we need to keep it that way.
I have talked to people throughout Hillsborough and Pinellas everyone was surprised and very disappointed to hear about the potential expansion.
I do not want to expand gambling in Florida for any reason. Keep our state family friendly. Our state already leads the nation in drug overdoses, human trafficking, and DUI fatal car crashes. Florida does not need a ‘trophy’ for gambling.
Allowing children access to online gambling via their cell phones is morally and ethically WRONG.
The people spoke in 2018 expanding gambling is a decision to be made by the voters not a compact by the Governor and legislators. Therefore, this compact is unconstitutional. Allowing exclusive sports gambling should also be voted on by citizens.
Approximately 10 million people in the United States live with a gambling addiction problem. Gambling addiction often negatively impacts finances, relationships, and mental health. This includes loss of jobs, bankruptcy, divorces, domestic violence, criminal activity, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. EXPANDING GAMBLING WILL INCREASE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DRUG ABUSE, DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, DIVORCES, UNEMPLOYMENT, HUMAN TRAFFICKING… None of these issues solely impact the person but extend to the family and community.
Florida has been “a shining city on a hill” to this point of 17 May 2021. A favorable vote by legislators on the proposed expansion of gambling in Florida this week in the special week-long legislative session in the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee will change Florida, in a negative way, forever. Our Florida representatives and senators need to hear from us. Now is the time for all of us to speak up and show up! NO EXPANSION OF GAMBLING IN FLORIDA!
Do not pass this legislation. Voting “Yes” opens the door for organized crime to enter our daily lives. The history of organized crime and gambling is well documented. Do not place the sports fan in the position of not trusting the results of athletic contest due to the influence gamblers. The money to be made will draw an infinite number of persons with schemes and plans to make the result of an athletic contest agree with their vote. VOTE NO.
I pray you do not pass this bill which will devastate may people who cannot afford or will become addicted to gambling. This willl not help our state or the Seminole Indians. As a person with Seminole blood in my hertiage, I ask on behalf of our people not to pass this bill.
Thank you for speaking up against gambling expansion in Florida. If you are able to contact the 4 state legislators above, we’d ask that you call or email them today to request they VOTE NO on the expansion of gambling in our state. If you are near Tallahassee, or in one of the three cities we are providing transportation from for our rally, we ask that you consider joining us tomorrow in Tallahassee for our rally on this issue. Thanks!
Please do not pass the bill to have gambling in the state of Florida,it will only lead to crime and we do not need it.
Thank you for speaking up against gambling expansion in Florida. If you are able to contact the 4 state legislators above, we’d ask that you call or email them today to request they VOTE NO on the expansion of gambling in our state. If you are near Tallahassee, or in one of the three cities we are providing transportation from for our rally, we ask that you consider joining us tomorrow in Tallahassee for our rally on this issue. Thanks!
Please do not approve this bill!
Florida will become another Las Vegas.
Do we need another incentive for tourists and
Gamblers to come to Florida?
Crime will certainly increase with these kinds of entertainment.
Just STOP in any and every way the growth of gambling in all of its descriptions and definitions in the state of Florida. We need no commissions and expansions of gambling in Florida by any agents. To do so would change forever our state from a wholesome home for us residents and as a tourist destination for families and individuals and turn it into a mecca and hub for gamblers. Find another way to increase revenue for our state’s needs.
I called my 2 state representatives and the both leaders! The last thing needed in a financial climate like we are headed toward, is gambling! History will attest to the fact the gambling has destroyed cities around the nation. Imagine what it could do to an entire state! I want my state to be known as a family friendly destination, not where people come to gamble and all the activities it attracts!
I called the two people listed at the top of your list, but didn’t see where below to go for additional info in contacting the two others. I would have done this–just needed a little more help. Everyone is busy. Thank you.
Thank you for contacting the House Speaker & Senate President regarding this critical issue! We are also encouraging Floridians to contact their state legislators for their district. You can find your representative and senator by submitting your home address to the form here: https://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/
Please call 407-251-5130 with any further questions and we’d be glad to help. Thank you again!