Facing potential veto, Fla. decoupling hits House floor next week

Now facing the governor’s threat of a veto as well as an uncertain future in the state Senate, The Stronach Group’s push to decouple Gulfstream Park’s racing and slot-machine licenses goes to the full membership of the Florida House of Representatives next week.

House bill 1467 was added to the special-order calendar for Wednesday. That is when it is scheduled to be heard on the floor for the first of two more readings before a potential vote. Because this is a wider-reaching gambling bill that had decoupling added only in the last week, the amendment means a two-thirds vote is required for approval. It also is possible that a two-thirds vote would allow the bill to go forward with each of the last two readings waived, something that happens frequently to speed things up.

At horse sale, Florida governor slams decoupling.

The original proposal that also would let Tampa Bay Downs separate its racing and card-room licenses was folded into this bigger House bill designed to create tighter regulations with criminal penalties for illegal gaming. It also would legalize daily fantasy sports in Florida. The whole package was approved by the House Commerce committee in a 17-9 vote Tuesday, the same day a standalone decoupling bill was tabled in a Senate committee.

If it passes in the House, the bill would go to the Senate. That is where things get murky. Because the appropriations committee on agriculture, environment and general government indefinitely postponed its decoupling hearing Tuesday, the fate of the bigger bill on that side of the capitol is uncertain.

Governor Ron DeSantis, whose fellow Republicans hold a super-majority in the House and Senate, all but said he would veto the decoupling proposal.

“On this issue with the horses, it seems to me they’re proposals that have the effect of harming the industry here in Florida to basically benefit one special interest,” DeSantis said Thursday at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales. “That’s not how you do good policy.”

DeSantis’s remarks were greeted with applause reflecting the Thoroughbred industry’s fear that decoupling would start a six-year clock toward the extinction of racing in South Florida.

“I understand the importance of the industry to the state, not just in terms of the economy, which it is important, ... but the culture and way of life and things that people have known for many generations,” DeSantis said. “So we’ll be looking at what ends up being produced in the Florida legislature. But you can count me as one who will not look favorably on legislation that is going to decimate (an industry).”

Any DeSantis veto still could be overridden by a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate. There is a race against the clock with only two weeks left in the 60-day legislative sprint in Florida.