Florida Governor Charlie Crist has signed into law the renegotiated compact with the Seminole Indian Tribe.  The compact had been approved by the Florida state legislature.  Its terms, described in earlier posts, give the Tribe exclusive rights to table games at some of its casinos, and the right to operate slots at all of its casinos.  In exchange for the promise of exclusivity, the Tribe will pay the state some $1.2+ billion in the next five years.

Next step in the process is for the compact to be approved by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior.  IGRA authorizes the Secretary to approve any tribal-state gaming compact.  The Secretary can disapprove a compact that violates IGRA, or federal law, or the U.S. government's trust obligations to tribes.  The Secretary also has the option of a "pocket approval" -- if the Secretary neither approves or disapproves a compact within 45 days of submission, then the compact will be considered approved.  Approved compacts must be published in the Federal Register.

As we've discussed in prior posts, one potential issue is the Florida-Seminole compact's terms on revenue sharing.  The exclusivity promised the Tribe is fairly limited, while the revenue sharing is big bucks -- and big bucks that go into the state's general treasury.  Those two factors may make the revenue sharing look like a state tax on the Tribe's gaming.  IGRA recognizes that states do not have power to "impose any tax, fee, charge, or other assessment" on tribal gaming.  Revenue sharing that looks less like a negotiated compromise and more like an imposed tax or fee can be problematic.  We'll see . . . . .