Katie Betta, a spokesperson for Simpson, said “to our knowledge, negotiations are ongoing.” This year, Senate President Wilton Simpson took the lead on negotiations with the Seminole Tribe, but in the last several weeks DeSantis got directly involved to bring it to a conclusion. Scott tried to negotiate a new deal on several occasions, but it fell apart amid legislative resistance. The Seminoles won approval to offer blackjack and slot machines on their reservations more than a decade ago - but since that time have stopped making payments to the state amid finger-pointing about how Florida was regulating tracks that also offer limited forms of gambling. Meredith Beatrice, a spokesperson for DeSantis, said on Wednesday that she had no information on the topic.įor years, gambling interests in the Sunshine State have waged both a public and shadow effort to retool the state’s arcane laws and overcome decades of opposition to wide-open gambling in the tourist mecca.