By James Call
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-996109.mp3
Tallahassee, FL –
Florida State Economists will make another attempt later this week at determining how much money three new gambling casinos might bring to the state. Two lawmakers have filed bills seeking approval for three massive destination casinos in South Florida. James Call reports they say the idea will bring an economic boom to the state.
The Legislature's chief economist, Amy Baker explains one of the mathematical formulas economists will use to gauge the fiscal impact of a destination casino resort proposal.
The economists who make up the Revenue Estimating Conference have held two workshops on a casino proposal lawmakers will consider in January. When placing a price tag on legislative proposals, their work is based on consensus. They have been crunching numbers on the casino bill for more than month. This week they are reworking the formula to determine how much new tourism money Las Vegas-style resorts would produce.
To find the elusive number, economists representing the Legislature, the Governor and state agencies make assumptions about people's behavior. Not only must they agree on how many new visitors the proposed casinos will entice to Florida, they must also decide where did they come from and how much money they will spend. A preliminary estimate of the bill's immediate impact on tax revenue is $350 million over four years. Much of that would come from building and furnishing the resorts.
"We have some specific things we want to change. People want to think about a couple parts some more. There's about 16 different pieces of the bill that affects revenue, state revenue in one shape or fashion and there are a lot of moving parts behind those and I think we are getting very close to a produce we all can agree to."
The bill's sponsors say the primary intent of their proposal is not to increase increasing tax revenue. Fort Lauderdale Senator Ellen Bogdanoff proposes three destination resorts with casinos if developers pledge $2 billion to build each resort. Bogdanoff says she is philosophically opposed to gambling. She says she wants to impose more regulations on the industry and also wants to shift its focus away from Floridians and on to people who visit Florida.
"We have to deal with the political reality of where we are. People enjoy, from an entertainment standpoint, gaming. But what we have now in Florida is [that] the entire gaming structure caters to people in the state. And you know, it is predatory gaming. So if we are going to be a gaming state what are we going to be? Well, if we are going to have it, we might as well be gaming that brings in international tourists, that actually creates economic development, more jobs and revenue for the state."
The casino resort proposal will be debated by the Legislature during the session that begins in January. The Senate has held one workshop on the proposal and is scheduling another. This complicates the work for the economists who will meet again this Friday. It forces them to make assumptions based on how the Legislation is currently written while lawmakers are talking about how to change it.