Disney Amendment 3
- This video is about Bill of Rights.
- Cinderella Castle, the Main Street Train Station and Disney Monorail are seen at Walt Disney World Resort's Magic Kingdom on Thursday, August 13, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
AMENDMENT 3:
Voter Approval of Casino Gambling Initiative
The measure would provide voters with the 'exclusive right to decide whether to authorize casino gambling in the State of Florida.' Amendment 3 would make the citizen initiative process 'the exclusive method of authorizing casino gambling,' meaning the Florida State Legislature would not be permitted to authorize casino gambling through statute or through referring a constitutional amendment to the ballot. In Florida, the number of signatures required for an initiative is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast in the preceding presidential election. Florida also has a signature distribution requirement, which requires that signatures equal to 8 percent of the district-wide vote in at least half (14) of the state's 27 congressional districts must be collected.
We have referenced Disney’s support of an anti-gambling measure up for vote this November as recently as April, but according to a new report by Bloomberg, The Walt Disney Company’s Tags: Amendment 3, anti-gambling measure, ballot initiative, ballot measure, Casinos, Citizens for the Truth About Amendment 3, Gambling, November. Disney alongside Seminole Tribe, Disney were the biggest funders of Voters in Charge, a political rights activist group/committee that actually proposed Florida Amendment 3. In the period prior to the midterm elections, Voters in Charge is thought to have spent over a whopping $31 million on a diversity of initiatives, including massive rallies, hall meetings, and so forth.
The measure would consider card games, casino games, and slot machines to be casino gambling. The measure would not consider pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing, dog racing, or jai alai exhibitions to be casino gambling. The measure would not impact casino gambling on Native American tribal lands established through state-tribe compacts.
The exact ballot summary language reads:
'This amendment ensures that Florida voters shall have the exclusive right to decide whether to authorize casino gambling by requiring that in order for casino gambling to be authorized under Florida law, it must be approved by Florida voters pursuant to Article XI, Section 3 of the Florida Constitution. Affects articles X and XI. Defines casino gambling and clarifies that this amendment does not conflict with federal law regarding state/tribal compacts.'
GAMBLING IN FLORIDA
Prior to 1931, gambling was outlawed in Florida. The Florida State Legislature passed a law to allow wagering on horseracing and dogracing, which Gov. Doyle Carlton (D) vetoed. Legislators voted to override the governor's veto, enacting the law on June 5, 1931. In 1935, the state legalized slot machines, but then repealed the law in 1937 following voters banning slot machines through ballot measures in multiple counties.
In 1987, the state launched the Florida State Lottery after voters approved an amendment the previous year. The vote was 63.57 percent to 36.43 percent.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida began operating a bingo hall in 1979. In 1988, Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), allowing tribes to establish casino gambling on tribal land. The act permitted states to form compacts with tribes to regulate Class III gaming, but not to regulate Class I and Class II gaming. Class I and Class II gaming were defined to include traditional tribal gaming with minimal prizes, bingo, and card games. Class III was defined to include all other games not considered Class I or Class II, such as roulette, craps, keno, slot machines, parimutual wagering, and lotteries. In 1991, the Seminole Tribe sued Gov. Lawton Chiles (D), arguing that the state government failed to negotiate in good faith a compact to allow the tribe to establish a Class III gaming. The case was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in the state's favor, in 1996. In 2010, the Seminole Tribe negotiated a Class III gaming compact with Republican Gov. Charlie Crist. The compact allowed the Seminole Tribe to operate blackjack at five facilities through 2015 and required the tribe to share revenue with the state. In 2015, Gov. Rick Scott (R) formed a new 20-year compact with the Seminole Tribe, which added craps and roulette to the agreement and gave the tribe the exclusive right to blackjack.
RELATED INITIATIVES
In 1978, an initiative, featured as Amendment 9, was on the ballot to authorize private casinos along the oceanfront in Dade and Broward counties. Voters rejected the measure, with 28.55 percent in favor and 71.45 percent opposed. The Let’s Help Florida Committee, which received funds from hotel companies, sponsored the ballot initiative. No Casinos, Inc., which has provided funds to the campaign supporting the Voter Approval of Casino Gambling Initiative, was active in opposing Amendment 9 in 1978. Gov. Reuben Askew, a Democrat, founded the organization and opposed Amendment 9.
In 1986, Floridians addressed a second initiative, Amendment 2, to authorize casinos in counties where voters approved initiatives to allow casino gambling. Voters rejected the initiative, with 31.65 percent voting 'yes' and 68.35 percent voting 'no.' Democratic Gov. Bob Graham opposed the initiative.
The status of casino gambling was featured on the ballot again in 1994. Voters rejected the initiative, Amendment 8, with 38.71 voting 'yes' and 61.29 percent voting 'no.'
On November 2, 2004, 50.83 percent of statewide voters supported an initiative, Amendment 4, to allow voters in Miami-Dade and Broward counties to authorize slot machines at parimutuel facilities, such as horse racing, greyhound racing, and jai alai exhibititions, that existed and were licensed during the two years prior. On May 18, 2017, the Florida Supreme Court struck down a local law allowing slot machines in Gadsden County, concluding that the state constitution only allowed slot machines in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
Ballot summary and background information found on Ballotpedia.
Legislators are going to leave the question of whether to expand gambling up to voters in November.
A group pushing a constitutional amendment on gambling is getting a significant additional boost from Disney and the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Newly filed campaign records show that Disney Worldwide Services and the tribe each donated $5 million in April to Voters in Charge.
Florida lawmakers will not return to Tallahassee this spring to deal with gaming issues.The decision not to bring the Legislature back into session came even though “significant progress” had been made on key issues that had been left on the table in the regular session.
A U.S. Supreme Court decision viewed as a major win for the gambling industry opened the door to sports betting in states across the country, but Florida almost certainly won’t be one of them — at least for now. Monday’s decision in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, a case the state of New Jersey brought as a challenge to a law known as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, found that a federal ban on state-sanctioned sports betting is unconstitutional.
NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA – Florida citizens scored a victory during the Midterm elections on Tuesday. 71 percent of Florida voters agreed to pass amendment 3, which will keep the legislature from expanding casino gambling and sports betting in the state.
Now, a statewide vote will be required in order to pass any law that would expand casino gambling in Florida. As it currently stands, sports betting is illegal throughout the state.
Amendment 3 was first proposed by Voters in Charge, a political committee that both Disney and the Seminole Tribe agreed to support financially. It`s been reported by the Miami Herald that the committee has spent more than $31 million during their campaign efforts.
Voters in Charge argue on their website that this amendment is about Florida voters, rather than the politicians, having the power to approve or disapprove of casino gambling, including sports gambling.
“For decades, approval of casino gambling was strictly for Florida voters to decide.” Says the Voters In Charge website. “Only in the last few years have Tallahassee politicians decided they can legalize casinos without voter approval.”
Professional teams such as the Miami Dolphins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, have voiced their opposition to the amendment. The Buccaneers donated $500,000 to a political committee known as Citizens for the Truth About Amendment 3.
Republican Senator Bill Galvano has also voiced his opposition to this amendment.
He said that if the amendment passed on the ballot, we would all, “just be spectators in the world of gaming, which will essentially be a monopoly for the Seminole Tribe. “
Both Disney and the Seminole Tribe have been accused of not wanting competition, which is why it is believed that they are huge proponents of amendment 3.
Just this past May, the United States Supreme Court overturned the 1992 law known as the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which banned sports betting nationwide, with the exception of some states.
AUDIO: Here’s Lino Sanchez, 21, with his views on this Florida decision.
By, Luis Zuniga
Contributions by, Voters in Charge, Tampa Bay Times, Ballotpedia, Yahoo Sports, SB Nation, ESPN and the Miami Herald
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Photo, Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Audio, Lino Sanchez
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