State Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson joined “A Deeper Dive with Dara Kam,” a News Service of Florida podcast, recently to talk about the state’s revived gaming compact with the Seminole Tribe, a five-year deal with a potential of $2.5 billion in economic impact, and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ veto of $100 million for a land-protection program that was one of Simpson’s legislative priorities.
(To hear the entire episode, go here: https://www.cityandstatefl.com/podcast/2023/07/episode-49-state-agriculture-commissioner-wilton-simpson/388507/)
The gambling deal gives the Seminole Tribe control over legal sports betting in Florida. This is under the purview of the Division of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Simpson’s department, and he played a role in brokering a compact with the Tribe.
“It was one of my major priorities when I was Senate President,” he said. “We had come to an arrangement, and we didn’t get it done. We were looking for a way to bring a sovereign state into something beneficial for all parties. We allowed other games, and in return the state would receive $500 million a year in revenue minimum. It turns out, it will be more.”
A federal judge said it wasn’t legal, but Simpson said the compact will go forward now that an appeals court reversed that, and the state will see that windfall of income.
“This will bring in a lot of revenue for the state of Florida to be spent on education and the environment,” Simpson said. “The Tribe was very honorable, we’d worked on this for several years. It’s a very good outcome for the state of Florida and the Tribe.
“We untwisted some old systems in place to land in a place I think we’re proud of, not just making money but creating a fair gaming system for Florida. Every few years we’d have to say, ‘No, you can’t have these little casinos in stores.’” One of the big pieces of the legislation, Simpson said, is the formation of a gaming commission that will oversee those state functions.
Part of what got struck down by the courts was legal Florida sports betting via mobile apps, but the federal courts were stuck on how the servers had to be located on the sovereign tribal land.
Regarding the Family Lands Protection Program, Simpson said he was proud the Senate established the state’s wildlife corridor, space for wildlife to roam from Miami-Dade County to Pensacola.
“Our concern was how we prevent the urban sprawl into vital agriculture lands,” he said. “But if the state buys the land, it comes off the tax rolls supporting frontline county government, and we have to go in and maintain it. If we lease it back to farmers, it’s a ticking clock on when those agreements end.
“Where there are landowners who don’t want to give up their development rights where we need vital linkages, we could buy those lands then offer them to farming families to buy at a reduced rate. It’s a bargain for the state and for farmers.”
The downside to DeSantis’ veto, Simpson said, is the team set up to do this quickly, and it takes three or four years to spend that money, and what has inflation done to that money? We only have about half of the value to spend in real time. I don’t know what $100 million would have meant to a $17 billion budget. You only need a lawyer once or twice a year, but you need a farmer three times a day. Hopefully we have another successful year in the Legislature and they see the value in what we’re doing.”
He noted that agriculture, not tourism, led the state’s economy during the pandemic and in recession periods.
“During COVID when people stayed home and were there for months, farmers never took a day off,” he said. “Can you imagine two to three weeks of no food in the stores because farmers stopped participating in the economy? As the third-most populated state, we should lead the nation in certain crops.”
