On the last day of the 2020 legislative session, a bill amending some administrative and structural details connected to the new Florida Gaming Control Commission was passed by the state’s Senate and House of Representatives.

The House’s analysis is reproduced below:

SB 2510 - Florida Gaming Control Commission

SUMMARY ANALYSIS 

SB 2510 passed the House on March 14, 2022, as amended by the conference committee. 

The bill conforms statutes to funding decisions related to the Florida Gaming Control Commission and the PMW Trust Fund in the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 General Appropriations Act. The Florida Gaming Control Commission (commission) was created in 2021, as an independent entity administratively housed within the Department of Legal Affairs, Office of Attorney General. 

The commission is a separate budget entity and serves as the agency head for all purposes. The commission consists of five members, one from each appellate district, to be appointed by the Governor by January 1, 2022, subject to Senate confirmation. For a period of two years immediately preceding appointment to, or employment with, the commission, and while appointed or employed with the commission, a person may not be a registered lobbyist for the executive or legislative branch, except while a commissioner when officially representing the commission. 

The Pari-Mutuel Wagering (PMW) Trust Fund is the only funding source for the commission. Currently, any balance remaining in the trust fund in excess of $1.5 million at the end of a fiscal year is transferred to the General Revenue Fund. For the 2021-2022 fiscal year, it is estimated the transfer to the General Revenue Fund is approximately $22 million. 

The bill makes the following changes related to the commission and the PWM Trust Fund:  

• Deletes a requirement that each member of the commission be appointed from each one of the five appellate court districts in light of the Supreme Court’s request to create a new Sixth Appellate District.  

• Allows a person who has lobbied for a state agency to be appointed as a commissioner or employed as a commission employee.  

• Moves the hearing and notice requirements exemption in ch. 120, F.S., for pari-mutuel stewards, judges, and boards of judges from the Division of Pari-mutuel Wagering (division) to the commission.  

• Deletes the PMW Trust Fund from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation and, instead authorizes the commission to administer the PMW Trust Fund.  

• Removes language specifying that the PWM TF is for slot machine regulation, making the PWM TF available for all of the commission’s operations.  

• Provides that the daily license fees for pari-mutuel wagering are to be used to fund the operating cost of the commission rather than the division and the proportionate share of the office of the secretary and administration.  

• Deletes the transfer of funds from the PMW Trust Fund to the General Revenue Fund.  

• Requires the commission to evaluate the license fee for slot machine regulatory requirements and make recommendations to the President and Speaker on the level of slot machine license fees by January 1, 2026.  

• Provides that the game promotion statute (s. 849.094, F.S.) does not apply to actions regulated by the Florida Gaming Control Commission. 

Subject to the Governor’s veto powers, the effective date of this bill is July 1, 2022.