Rubio challenges Crist on gaming

Rubio: “Today I directed attorneys representing the House of Representatives to file the attached petition in the Florida Supreme Court. The petition asserts that the Governor lacked the authority unilaterally to bind our state to a gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. As relief, the petition asks the Court to declare the compact invalid unless and until it is approved by the Legislature. By filing our petition directly in the Supreme Court, we have chosen the approach that will resolve this dispute as efficiently and definitively as possible.

"Although this litigation arises in the context of a debate over the expansion of gambling, the principles at stake are far larger than that single issue. This case is about protecting our system of checks and balances. Rather than place too much power in the hands of one person, our constitution divides power among three equal branches of government. I have an obligation to protect and defend the constitutional role of the Florida House of Representatives. "

Comments

Somebody please, comp the Justices...

go marco

MARCO ROCKS!

[Wonky Tonk Woman]

Good for Marco! At least someone has the cojones to stand up to the Indians!

Marco and his followers in the house are acting like total clowns

Janice, please get back to work and quit wasting the money I donate to RPOF by blogging all day attacking other Republicans.

With all these lawyers and lawsuits, how much is it going to cost the taxpayers for Rubio to try and prove he has the biggest "gavel" in Tallahassee?

This is just Rubio trying to maintain relevancy. Sorry Marco, your fat lady has sung. You blew the tax issue, and that's all she wrote.

If you proceed to derail this compact, the Feds will walk away from the table and we will have Las Vegas Casinos on every square inch of tribal land, with nothing going into the state coffers. Give up on it.

no Speaker in the last 8 years would have had the sack to do this against Jeb.

I agree with Crist on the gambling issue. I agree with Rubio on the checks and balances issue.

That being said, this suit is important for the latter, despite the outcome. This is a constitutional question that should have long ago been addressed.

Too bad it couldn't have come instead with Terri Schiavo.

If I remember correctly, Toni Jennings sued Jeb over constitutional authority and won. And didn't he later pick her to be his LG?

Marco's lawsuit is about the checks and balances of government. We have a provision in our state constitution prohibiting casino gambling, with the exception of slots in Broward and Miami-Dade. The governor can't just sign a compact ignoring the constitution.

Good for Marco and I hope he wins the lawsuit.

[terminator]

2:08 (I)
Put down the joint and get off the cool aid. "Blew the tax issue"?
I think you're brains are fried from that stuff.
If anybody blew the tax issue, it's the wimps in the Senate and Charlie Crist, not Marco.
Pruitt's as irrelevant as Marco (regarding their remaining tenures as presiding officers).
At least Marco's got a future in politics!

2:08 (II) and 2:18 Dead on!

2:18 p.m.,

The federal law treats Native American Tribes as a soveign nations not subject to the state's laws. Other federal laws say that if a state has casino gambling that they must allow the Tribes the ability to have casino gambling. The allowances are based upon classes of machines and games. Once the state allowed the high payout machines, Native American Tribes have the right under federal law to have those same machines AND certain other games that are treated the same by the feds. If the state negotiates a compact, it is allowed, but otherwise the Dept. of Interior for the feds would have allowed the gaming without the state getting anything.

In other words, the machines and games are coming. The only question is whether the state gets anything for them or not. If Marco wins, the state loses.

This is my understanding, but I am not an attorney, a Native American or a representative of the gaming industry.

What's Marco (I NEED ATTENTION!) Rubio crying about now.

This "Punk in Man Clothes" is getting pretty pathetic.

1. constitution doesn't apply on soverign indian land

2. feds do say if state allows certain gambling, then indians can also have no less than the same

3. state constitution says Broward can have it.

4. done deal for Seminoles.

Somone please explain this to me then - Why would the Seminoles even negotiate with the State if they were guaranteed the right to these machines and games?

It doesn't make any sense why they would be willing to give up $100M+ each year to the State if they had these assurances.

3:47 - you're exactly right. The feds have set deadlines in the past for the state to enter into a compact but nothing happened.

If Charlie were really opposed to the expansion of gambling like he claimed in the campaign (and is this even the same Charlie?) then he would have continued to stare down the feds threats.

if marco were governor he would not tolerate the legislature telling him what to do. Jeb did it all the time, sour grapes from the lower chamber...could it be Marco is seeing that he is about to enter his last legislative session of relevance?

The governor of Florida is sworn to uphold the Constitution. The Constitution applies to the governor.

Class III slots were all the Seminoles were entitled to receive. The rest was ceded to them in this agreement. The state got chump change roughly equal to the taxes paid by the Broward parimutuels in exchange to this agreement.

Imagine if Jim Davis had made this agreement. The GOPers would be going bonkers.

If the Seminoles/Gov Crist ignore this petition, wouldn't any challenge have to be raised at the U.S. District Courts INSTEAD OF STATE COURT?

Get rid of poker & slots in parimutuels.

They are trying to protect their huge profits.

They should not have any gambling rights other than racing.

SO NOW THEY ARE WHINING. CRY ME A RIVER.

4:54 - I'm not involved in any of the industries you mentioned in your post. I, a life-long Floridian, oppose casino gambling in our state. We don't need it and voters have always rejected it when given the chance.

What Charlie has done is turn is back on the will of the people. This will blow up in his face.

"no Speaker in the last 8 years would have had the sack to do this against Jeb."

That's true but the Senate always stood up to King Jeb.

I'm sure Rubio is really concerned about "checks and balances" - especially all those campaign checks and fund balances from the S. Florida race tracks.