Florida
The Florida Supreme Court will not rule on a lawsuit that antigambling advocates hoped would overturn the results of a 2004 general election that allowed for slot machines at Gulfstream Park and other Broward County race tracks. Instead, the case has been sent back to trial in front of a Tallahassee circuit court judge. The driving force behind the suit, Floridians Against Expanded Gambling, argues that the petition signatures that brought the issue to the general election ballot were improperly gathered or forged. The suit was originally filed a month before the 2004 election. The pro-gambling camp argues that the signatures are valid but, even if they weren’t, the fact that voters passed the measure (albeit by a narrow margin) should make any contention over the pre-election petition moot. The Supreme Court found that the issue was outside of its jurisdiction. As of CEM’s press time, a new court date had not been set.
Michigan
The legal clash over whether the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) had the authority to shut down state casinos in the event of an unresolved budget impasse may have been all for naught. The budget battle in the state legislature was resolved with 20 hours to spare. The MGCB had previously ordered the state’s casinos to close within 24 hours if budget woes weren’t resolved by Oct. 1, forcing a shutdown of non-essential state offices. A Wayne County Circuit Court judge, however, ruled that there would not be any harm to public health or safety if the casinos stayed open without the presence of furloughed MGCB inspectors. The point became moot, at least for this fiscal year, when the legislature and Gov. Jennifer Granholm agreed, at 4:18 a.m. Oct. 1, to raise income taxes and expand sales taxes.
Nationwide
How the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) will be implemented and enforced is beginning to take shape, with the release of a joint proposed rule from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The proposed rule, a “prohibition on funding of unlawful Internet gambling Agencies,” would “designate certain payment systems that could be used in connection with unlawful Internet gambling transactions restricted by the [UIGEA]” and require “participants in designated payment systems to establish policies and procedures reasonably designed to identify and block or otherwise prevent or prohibit transactions in connection with unlawful Internet gambling.” The proposed rule also “exempts certain participants in designated payment systems from the requirements to establish such policies and procedures because … it is not reasonably practical for those participants to identify and block, or otherwise prevent or prohibit, unlawful Internet gambling transactions restricted by the [UIGEA].” The proposed rule also “describes the types of policies and procedures that non-exempt participants in each type of designated payment system may adopt in order to comply with the [UIGEA] and includes non-exclusive examples of policies and procedures that would be deemed to be reasonably designed to prevent or prohibit unlawful Internet gambling transactions.”
The proposed rule does not “specify which gambling activities or transactions are legal or illegal because the [UIGEA] itself defers to underlying state and federal gambling laws in that regard and determinations under those laws may depend on the facts of specific activities or transactions (such as the location of the parties).” The Federal Reserve and Treasury will take comments on the proposed rule through Dec. 12, 2007. For more information, visit www.federalreserve.gov or www.regulations.gov.
New York
The bids are in for bringing 4,500 VLTs to the Aqueduct race track in Queens, and as of CEM’s press time Gov. Eliot Spitzer was considering six proposals, four of them from Tribal Gaming businesses. The Seneca Indian Nation; the Shinnecock Indian Nation (considered a long shot, as its application for federal recognition isn’t expected to come through until 2014, if at all), in a partnership with Gateway Casino Resorts; Delaware North, in a partnership with Saratoga Gaming and Raceway; Foxwoods Development Company; Mohegan Sun; and Greenwood Racing Inc. The VLTs at Aqueduct proposal has been criticized for splitting race track and gaming functions at the park, and for not including VLTs at other race tracks. Spitzer previously proposed awarding the New York Racing Association a 30-year franchise over the races at Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga, a plan which is also garnering controversy in the Legislature, given that the company is currently operating under bankruptcy protection. Senate majority leader Joseph L. Bruno, meanwhile, has proposed an alternate plan for the state’s three race tracks, which would create a public oversight authority to oversee all racing and gaming at the tracks. As of CEM’s press time, Spitzer said he planned to review the Senate plan and discuss it with the Legislature, but maintained that his solution was the best for the future of the state’s racing industry.
Norway
The United States may soon have some company in the UIGEA club. Even though online gambling is already illegal there, Norway is reportedly working on an Internet gambling ban similar to the UIGEA. The new law would mostly seek to enforce the preexisting ban, prohibiting banks in the country from transferring funds to gaming companies abroad. If passed, the new law could be implemented as early as spring 2008.