Florida House Files Petition to Declare Gambling Compact Invalid

House Speaker Marco Rubio today issued the memo below regarding a petition filed by the Florida House of Representatives to the Florida Supreme Court to declare the Seminole Indian gambling compact signed last week by Governor Charlie Crist invalid.

A copy of Speaker Rubio’s memo is attached for your review.

Also attached is a copy of the House petition, a copy of the final compact between the State of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida with an addendum listing Florida-authorized interstate and State-Tribal compacts signed in 2007, and a November 14 summary of the State-Seminole gambling compact.

Should you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact this office.

 

From:  House Speaker Marco Rubio

To:  Members of the Florida House of Representatives

Date:  November 19, 2007

Subject:  Petition to the Florida Supreme Court

“Today I directed attorneys representing the House of Representatives to file the attached petition in the Florida Supreme Court. The petition asserts that the Governor lacked the authority unilaterally to bind our state to a gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. As relief, the petition asks the Court to declare the compact invalid unless and until it is approved by the Legislature. By filing our petition directly in the Supreme Court, we have chosen the approach that will resolve this dispute as efficiently and definitively as possible.

Although this litigation arises in the context of a debate over the expansion of gambling, the principles at stake are far larger than that single issue. This case is about protecting our system of checks and balances. Rather than place too much power in the hands of one person, our constitution divides power among three equal branches of government. I have an obligation to protect and defend the constitutional role of the Florida House of Representatives. It is an obligation not only to this legislature, but also to future legislatures as well.

This case is also about ensuring that major public policy decisions are made in the open, with a meaningful opportunity for public deliberation. The decision to grant the Seminole Tribe an exclusive right to conduct gambling that is otherwise illegal in Florida is a major public policy decision. Such decisions should be made in the open. And they should be made after the public has had the opportunity to ask questions and hear answers.

While success in litigation is never guaranteed, I am confident that our position is correct. Each of the five state supreme courts considering this issue has concluded that a governor may not unilaterally bind a state to an Indian gambling compact. We believe that the Florida Supreme Court will also conclude that an Indian gambling compact requires legislative approval.”