Amidst Property Tax Debate, Legalized Gambling Inches Forward

For most of the past decade, advocates of legalized gambling have found a staunch opponent in Florida in Governor Jeb Bush. But with Bush out of office, new Governor Charlie Crist isn't taking quite as hard a line-- and the floodgates are slowly opening. As the Tampa Tribune documents, legislation passed in this year's session allows "more slot machines, bigger poker pots and longer hours of operation."

One of the principal architects of gambling's expansion in Florida is Rep. Jack Seiler, a Democrat from Wilton Manors, who successfully sponsored a bill to increase the number of slot machines allowed at parimutuel facilities from 1,500 to 2,000. Seiler's reasoning: it's gonna happen anyway, we might as well take advantage of it:

"Gambling is here in Florida," Seiler said. "It is not going away. And if it's going to be here, we might as well get some of the benefits."

This argument holds true up to a point: humans have always gambled, and probably always will, so the question is whether this baseline level of gambling will happen in an unregulated environment or a regulated one. But when gambling is expanded as a response to a fiscal crunch, the rationale subtly changes. Whether they realize it or not, Seiler and other gambling proponents are now counting on gamblers to help fund schools-- and have every reason to encourage them to keep on gambling. Tom Talley of the Florida Council on Problem Gambling says it better than I ever could:

"Once they get in these places, they just keep digging the needle in deeper...They increase the games, they increase the amount of betting."