electronic sweepstakes games, Internet café, Florida's Regulated Industries Committee, South Carolina sweepstakes law, electronic sweepstakes ban, gaming, Rick Scott
TALLAHASSEE, FL and COLUMBIA, SC -- Florida state senators on the Regulated Industries Committee voted Jan. 19 for a bill that would permit sweepstakes videogames, subject to a $100 per-machine annual tax. Pro-sweepstakes lawmakers said the measure could preserve up to 13,000 jobs in the Sunshine State's estimated 1,000 Internet cafés.
Earlier in the week, Gov. Rick Scott issued a statement opposing electronic sweepstakes, and a House committee voted 10-5 to ban the Internet games and the venues in which they're placed.
In South Carolina, which banned video poker machines a decade ago, a new bill to ban sweepstakes games has been introduced. Supporters of the proposal predict it will be passed by the end of the current session, according to local media. | SEE STORY
