The gambling legislation negotiations between the Florida Senate and House were suddenly postponed after the Florida Supreme Court decided to give the green light to a proposed constitutional change in terms of gambling. Under the amendment, Florida voters are to be given the exclusive right to decide whether or not to make casino gambling legal.
As far as the amendment is concerned, Florida Supreme Court ruled 4-2 that the wording of the constitutional amendment was not misleading. Still, there were two justices of the Supreme Court who argued that decision, saying the amendment was misleading as it was not clear enough on the matter how would counties, including Broward and Miami-Dade, be affected by the changes.
Despite the Supreme Court ruling was a crucial step forward, the supporters of the gambling amendment would still be required to gather over 700,000 signatures in order for them to ensure the ballot over the upcoming year.
There are some gambling opponents who call for the constitutional change in order to make sure that local lawmakers would not be able to make casino gambling legal unless they get the voters’ approval. The matter of gambling market changes through casino expansion has been considered by the Florida legislature over the past few years. (READ SO: STATES ARE BEST EQUIPPED TO REGULATE AND ENFORCE ONLINE GAMING)
It is important to note that the ruling of the Supreme Court does not measure the qualities of the proposed constitutional changes, but is intended to look at the clarity and adequacy of the initiative and also make sure it is in line with the single-subject requirement.
