CFO Sink Says Florida Needs Gambling Money
December 15th, 2008 by Mike VasilindaCFO Alex Sink says Florida is losing money it should be receiving from gambling on Seminole Reservations.
Last year, the state agreed to payments from the Indian gaming in exchange for exclusivity. In July the State Supreme Court ruled the deal was illegal because lawmakers didn’t have a say. Now state lawmakers are mulling their options, but Alex Sink, the State’s Chief Financial Officer, says whether you like it or not gambling is here and the state needs the money.
“Ideology aside, we have gambling in Florida,” Sink said. “So we may as well take advantage of any opportunity we have to get our fair share of the revenue out of it.”
Sink also says the state could benefit from lower medical costs if it were to hike the cigarette tax to somewhere near the national average. Florida’s tax is just under 34 cents a pack, the national average is $1.12.
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