Special thanks to Richard Charter
Naples News
Michael Peltier: Drilling, gaming debate heats up chilly Capitol
TALLAHASSEE – Following a bitterly cold weekend – by Florida standards, that is – things will heat up considerably this week as lawmakers return to Tallahassee for the first of two committee weeks in January.
As lawmakers begin the 2010 push leading up to the Legislative session in March, committees this week will take separate looks at Seminole Indian gambling and the future of offshore oil drilling off Florida’s Gulf coast.
The two controversial issues are mixed in among scores of items – some important, some not-so-much – working their way through committees to prepare for possible passage later this spring.
The House Select Policy Council on Strategic & Economic Planning is scheduled to meet Thursday for a workshop on energy exploration, oil drilling technology and regulatory requirements for drilling as it related to offshore waters in the Gulf.
The Senate has thrown some cold water on the oil drilling issue. Senate President Jeff Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, has made it clear he’s not in any hurry to determine if it’s a good idea to lift a decades’ long moratorium on exploration and extraction of oil in the eastern Gulf.
Instead, Atwater (who is running for the statewide office of Chief Financial Officer in November) has asked for a “thorough review” by the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida. The panel, however, said last week it won’t have its report completed until early March, which in only the rarest of cases is too late for lawmakers to address in a mere 60-day session that ends the first week in May.
Signs of such a timetable are evident. Florida Energy Associates, a coalition formed to promote drilling efforts, last week said it was reducing its lobbying ranks for the current session. The time, apparently, may not be ripe to justify the cost of a Dream Team lobby corps.
The House panel reviewing the Seminole gambling compact with the state is also not expected to come to closure anytime soon but will forge ahead this week. Led by Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, the House Select Committee on Seminole Indian Compact Review meets Thursday to consider a proposed council bill dealing with Seminole Indian Compact ratification and another addressing non-Indian pari-mutuel permit holders.
The gambling deal has already stalled on a few occasions as lawmakers, the Seminole Tribe, the governor’s office and non-Indian pari-mutuel owners come to the table with dramatically different desires. Such differences have proven difficult to overcome as negotiators try to forge an agreement acceptable to all.
House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, recently asked federal regulators to shut down banked card games at Seminole casinos including Immokalee after early revenue sharing agreements fell through. The tribe wants to expand to facilities statewide while House leaders favor a far more conservative expansion.
For his part, Gov. Charlie Crist just wants some kind of agreement that locks in revenue for the state.
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E-mail Michael Peltier at mpeltier1234@comcast.net.