Florida legislators will meet in Tallahassee this week for a special session
that will address legislation authorizing slot machines and slot machine gaming
at four South Florida pari-mutuel facilities in Broward County.
The House and Senate released copies of their respective bills last Friday.
The tax rate in the House bill is set at 55 percent. It states that the
pari-mutuel facilities with slot machines can be open daily all year, but only
up to 16 hours per day. In addition, it limits the number of machines to 1,000
per facility and requires the payout percentage of slot machines to be no less
than 85 percent per facility per day.
The Senate bill sets the tax rate at 45, but allows for up to 2,000 machines
per facility.
The session began Monday and is expected to run through Friday.