"The Florida Legislature concludes this week its special session called to balance the state budget, wisely rejecting new gambling revenue as a means of closing the 2008-2009 budget deficit. Nevertheless, citizens concerned about the detrimental effects of gambling expansion on our society should not be so confident about the coming regular legislative session.

The wisdom shown by legislative leaders in rejecting Gov. Charlie Crist’s request to rush through the special session an approval of his judicially repudiated and careless deal with the Seminole Tribe does not mean that there may not be greater openness to such when legislators reconvene in March for their regular, annual session.

As pro-family leaders warned in a news conference last month, there is a “perfect storm” brewing in Tallahassee that may radically change Florida’s mostly family-friendly environment to a state that has taken a dramatic plunge into big-time gambling as a crutch to balance the budget.

The “perfect storm,” consisting of mounting state budget deficits and the pending gambling compact with the Seminole Indian Tribe, which was invalidated by the Florida Supreme Court, may result in an expansion of gambling in Florida."

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Editorial: A gambling expansion ‘perfect storm’ (The Florida Baptist Witness 1/14)