News from Florida

Florida Governor Vetoes Dog Track Bill! - May 30, 2002

Governor Jeb Bush has vetoed Senate Bill 160, which would have legalized high-stakes poker at all Florida dog tracks.

This means that every subsidy bill introduced in Florida this year by the dog racing industry has been stopped. This also means that together we have defeated EVERY PIECE OF SUBSIDY LEGISLATION INTRODUCED BY THE DOG RACING INDUSTRY THIS YEAR NATIONWIDE! One industry lobbyist has already predicted the closing of dog tracks as a result.

This victory would not have been possible without the help of everyone who wrote and called Governor Bush and all of the organizations that signed on to our full-page advertisement in the Tallahassee Democrat.

These included the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Last Chance for Animals, the Humane Society of the United States, the Greyhound Protection League, the Fund for Animals, the American Anti-Vivisection Society, the American Humane Association, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the Animal Protection Institute, The Ark Trust, Inc., the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights, the Doris Day Animal League, Friends of Animals, Florida Voices for Animals, Greyhound REscue and Adoption of Tampa Bay, Greyhound Adoptions of Florida, the National Greyhound Adoption Network, the National Humane Education Society, Sarasota In Defense of Animals, Supporting and Promoting Ethics for the Animal Kingdom, USA Defenders of Greyhounds, and the World Society for the Protection of Animals.

Please consider writing a letter to Governor Bush and thanking him for this sound decision. You may reach him at:

Honorable Governor Jeb Bush
Executive Office of the Governor
State Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
850-488-7146
850-487-0801 (fax)

Source: Grey2K USA

Florida Legislature Adjourns Without Legalizing Video Slot Machines at Dog Tracks - March 22, 2002

On Friday, March 22 the Florida Legislature adjourned, ending the 2002 regular session without the passage of legislation that would give 16 Florida dog tracks the ability to operate video slot machines.

"This is a huge victory," said GREY2K USA President Carey Theil. "Greyhound advocates defeated dog track attempts to gain slot machines by a ballot question, and now we have defeated the dog tracks in the
legislature."

Florida's State Senators and Representatives, however, failed to pass a state budget, and will be required to call a special legislative session sometime in the next few months. It is expected that the dog tracks
will push for expanded gambling at their facilities at that time. We will continue to oppose their efforts.

Source: Grey2K USA

 

State High Court Rejects Slot Machine Ballot Proposition - March 14, 2002

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The state Supreme Court struck down a proposal Thursday that would have let voters decide if Florida's horse and dog tracks and jai alai frontons could install slot machines.

On a 4-3 vote, the justices said the measure failed to meet the state's single subject requirement and must be removed from the ballot.

Chief Justice Charles Wells, and Justices Major B. Harding, Fred Lewis and Peggy Ann Quince made up the majority with Justices Leander Shaw, Harry Lee Anstead and Barbara Pariente dissenting.

"The court's ruling today is a victory for the safety of our neighborhoods and for the character of our communities," said Glenda Hood, president of No Casinos Inc., which opposed the initiative.

"There will be a next step, but I can't tell you what it will be," said Parker Thomson, the Miami attorney who argued the case last fall before the Supreme Court on behalf of Floridians for a Level Playing Field, the measure's sponsor. "It'll take a day or two."

Floridians for a Level Playing Field is paid for largely by three South Florida dog tracks. Thoroughbred owners and the state's only harness track also supported the measure. To get the proposal on the 2002 ballot, the group needed to collect nearly half a million signatures by summer.

Greyhound racing opponents applauded the decision.

"These tracks are begging for slot machines because they're no longer a viable industry," said Carey Theil, president of Boston-based GREY2K USA, an animal protection group. "Giving them life support through this will cause thousands upon thousands of greyhounds to be bred and killed."

The proposal would have let voters in 18 counties that have a horse track, dog track or jai-alai fronton decide whether those pari-mutuel facilities could install slot machines.

Casino proponents have gotten a constitutional amendment on the ballot three times in the last quarter century only to be defeated on Election Day.

Similar proposals are also being considered by Legislatures in Arizona, Kansas and Massachusetts while New Hampshire lawmakers defeated another earlier this year, Theil said.

By Brent Kallestad, Associated Press Writer