Freeman gets Christmas wish; Florida lawmakers: Let’s make a deal

American Gaming Association President Geoff Freeman could hardly have asked for a better present, all wrapped in a big, dollar-bill bow: The IRS has abandoned a set of proposed casino-reporting “reforms” that would have been intrusive, onerous and costly. (Of course, it could be argued that the IRS’ purpose in life is to be “intrusive, onerous and costly.”) First and foremost, the idea of halving the jackpot-reporting threshold to $600 goes away, taking away untold amounts of paperwork — and idled slot machines — with it. Also abandoned is the notion of tracking players’ winnings through loyalty cards, which the AGA said “are not equipped to serve this purpose and customers are uncomfortable with the proposed approach.” (I’ll bet!)

The lobbying effort against the potential IRS rules also marked a passing of the torch. Although Sen. Harry Reid (D) put his thoughts to paper, the anti-rules lobbying effort was spearheaded by Sen. Dean Heller (R) who, with a GOP majority firmly in place, ought to become the go-to guy on gaming issues. As for Freeman, he wrote, “[Yesterday’s] final IRS regulation is a big win not only for gaming companies and millions of casino visitors but for state and local governments who would have received gaming tax dollars as the result of what would have been burdensome federal requirements.” Freeman is right on target and the AGA is to be applauded for fighting to hard to derail this train before it left the station.

* Legislative leaders in Florida, aware that the state is holding a losing hand vis-a-vis the Seminole Tribe, are making vague noises about compromise. “We still believe that there is a path forward for an amended compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida,” said House Commerce Committee Chairman Jose Felix Diaz. Senate President Joe Negron (pictured) also identified compact ratification as a high priority for the next Lege. More problematic is the jailbreak of Florida counties, eight as of last count, that have voted to legalize slot machines. Diaz tried to square the circle: “The House said then that our goals are two-fold: a contraction in gaming and a long-term solution.”

Others are more blunt, saying that parimutuels should stick to their knitting. Grumbled dog-track lobbyist Jack Cory, if they don’t want to be in the business, give up your parimutuel license, send it back to Tallahassee and give someone else a chance.” Negron was more conciliatory, saying, “The voters in a number of counties have approved referendums either expanding or confirming gaming opportunities so I don’t think we should stand in the way of that.” (New Miami-Dade County and Palm Beach County casinos are being held hostage by the lack of a compact.) At present, the main philosophical disagreement is between those who think the Lege should take the bit between its teeth and those who want to throw the issue open to a statewide referendum. The latter course of action gives racing expansion a higher chance of success, so we expect there will be a lot of pressure to keep the issue in Tallahassee.

* Yesterday, S&G called for a boycott of all non-Circus Circus casinos owned by MGM Resorts International (and you, too, Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas) for imposing parking fees on locals. The Las Vegas Review-Journal‘s calls for making a quasi-Faustian bargain: Sign up for the Mlife Rewards Master Card. It’s about the only thing at MGM that — for now — doesn’t have a fee attached, so it will reduce the pain in the wallet. The question is whether packing one piece of plastic is worthwhile tradeoff for evading those noxious parking fees. Perhaps Morrison is right. Even if I had such a card, I would be patronizing MGM less, if only out of principle.