Baptists asked to urge Speaker to reject gambling deal

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TALLHASSEE (FBW) – Contending Florida House Speaker Larry Cretul will be the “final arbiter” of whether there is a major expansion of gambling in the Legislature this year, Bill Bunkley is asking Florida Baptists to contact Cretul immediately and urge him to oppose gambling expansion.

The call to action from the legislative consultant of the Florida Baptist Convention follows a major concession by the House of Representatives in a gambling conference committee Friday offering a full-scale casino at the Seminole Indian Tribe’s Broward County facility.

The House proposal was a counter-offer to Senate negotiators’ initial volley in the deliberations seeking to reconcile gambling legislation.

At stake are two sets of widely divergent bills adopted by each chamber to permit a gambling compact with the Seminole Indian Tribe and legislation providing certain enhancements to the state’s pari-mutuels who argue they will go out of busy if the tribe is given new gambling options without some consideration for their businesses.

(For further details on developments in the gambling negotiations, see prior stories posted on the Florida Baptist Witness Web site.)

“I am very disappointed that [Cretul’s] House gambling conference committee has breeched a long standing commitment by that chamber to guard against the expansion of predatory gambling by offering a compact with the Seminole Tribe that allows Las Vegas style slot machines statewide, as well as the entry of Blackjack and other back card games at the Hollywood facility,” Bunkley told Florida Baptist Witness May 2.

Bunkley said Cretul is a “key person” in the negotiations and such a concession could not have happened without the “Speaker’s blessing.”

“I ask Speaker Cretul to join the long list of former House Speakers who have stood in the gap to protect Floridians from predatory gambling venues. There is still time for the Speaker to override his House negotiators and reverse their position and say no to any gambling expansion,” Bunkley added.

Cretul, formally a longtime member and deacon of First Baptist Church in Ocala, is a member of Church of Hope, a Baptist congregation that was started in the wake of conflict at First Baptist.

Bunkley noted that gambling negotiations would continue throughout the weekend.

“It is crucial that Florida Baptists take a moment right now to e-mail Speaker Cretul (larry.cretul@myfloridahouse.gov) or call him (850-488-1450) and politely ask him to reverse the position of his negotiating team and oppose any expansion to predatory gambling,” Bunkley said.