Editorial: Cautious approach to expansion of gaming in Florida

In what must have come as an unexpected and unpleasant surprise to certain legislators, a new report states that an expansion of gambling in Florida will undermine the state's longtime image as a vacation destination.

The Legislature commissioned a comprehensive study of gambling ahead of plans to rewrite state gaming laws next year. A New Jersey-based gambling consultant company known as friendly to the casino industry wrote that "expanded gambling may fundamentally change the state of Florida as a place to live and visit."

The pro-gambling forces in the Legislature must have been stunned that the Spectrum Gaming Group came to such a conclusion in the first part of its report.