{"id":307,"date":"2026-01-11T13:37:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T13:37:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/2026\/01\/11\/florida-senator-seeks-to-eliminate-dei-from-state-gaming-industry-elevate-illegal-gambling-penalties\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T13:37:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T13:37:49","slug":"florida-senator-seeks-to-eliminate-dei-from-state-gaming-industry-elevate-illegal-gambling-penalties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/2026\/01\/11\/florida-senator-seeks-to-eliminate-dei-from-state-gaming-industry-elevate-illegal-gambling-penalties\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Senator Seeks to Eliminate DEI From State Gaming Industry, Elevate Illegal Gambling Penalties"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>A senator in Florida wants to rid DEI from the gaming industry<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The lawmaker also wants harsher penalties for illegal gambling<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">A senator in Florida is seeking to overhaul the Sunshine State&#8217;s gaming industry by stripping diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requirements and elevating penalties for individuals found guilty of owning or working in an illegal gambling house.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_372583\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-372583\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO wp-image-372583 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Florida DEI illegal gambling\" width=\"858\" height=\"595\" sizes=\"(max-width: 858px) 100vw, 858px\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/FlkWxXwWYAEwt_H-858x595.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/FlkWxXwWYAEwt_H-858x595.jpg 858w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/FlkWxXwWYAEwt_H-430x298.jpg 430w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/FlkWxXwWYAEwt_H.jpg 1200w\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-372583\"class=\"text-description\">Florida Sen. Clay Yarborough (R) and his wife, Jordan. The senator is behind legislation that would further rid DEI mandates from Florida law. He&#8217;s also seeking to increase penalties against illegal gambling businesses, their employees, and their landlords. (Image: X)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Sen. Clay Yarborough (R-Nassau), a rising Republican star in Florida politics, is seeking to use the 2026 legislative session to further eliminate DEI. Along with bills to rescind DEI mandates from local governments, Yarborough has filed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flsenate.gov\/Session\/Bill\/2026\/1164\/BillText\/Filed\/PDF\">Senate Bill 1164<\/a>, which would stop requiring that diverse members be appointed to the five-person Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">SB1164 would remove language saying that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-gaming-regulator-doubles-down-on-illegal-gambling-raids\/\">FGCC<\/a> &#8220;shall consider appointees who reflect Florida&#8217;s racial, ethnic, and gender diversity.&#8221; Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who is responsible for appointing the FGCC, welcomed Yarborough&#8217;s DEI bills.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Florida has led the nation on DEI elimination. Now, Sen. Yarborough \u2026 has filed a bill to eliminate DEI in government. Let&#8217;s go,&#8221; DeSantis said Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Florida&#8217;s gaming commission regulates parimutuel wagering, cardrooms, and slot machine facilities in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. The agency also has oversight of gaming compacts and other forms of gambling authorized by the Florida State Constitution or law, excluding the state lottery.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Bill Seeks Felony Penalties<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">More consequential in SB1164 is that a person found guilty of running an unlicensed gambling business in Florida would be subject to increased penalties.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Florida has a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/cracking-down-on-illegal-gambling-florida-will-be-2026-focus\/\">severe illegal gambling problem<\/a>, with unlicensed slot &#8220;arcades&#8221; operating in retail strip malls and shopping centers across the Sunshine State. Penalties for operating unlawful slot machines under the present law call for only misdemeanor consequences, something that&#8217;s &#8220;not enough of a deterrent&#8221; to stop violators from preying on the state&#8217;s seniors, says Attorney General James Uthmeier.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Yarborough&#8217;s bill proposes increasing the charging schedule from a misdemeanor of the second degree to a felony of the third degree for someone who keeps a gambling house. The proposed heightened charge is for anyone who has direct or indirect control of the illegal gambling business.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Employees are also not immune. While they would remain subject to misdemeanors of the first degree for first-time offenses, the charge would be raised to a felony of the third degree for a second offense, and to a felony of the second degree for subsequent offenses.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Landlords who knowingly lease business space for illegal gambling purposes would be subject to a felony of the third degree for the first offense, and to a felony of the second degree for subsequent violations.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>DEI DOA<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Regarding other DEI-related conditions of Yarborough&#8217;s SB1164, slot licenses in Miami-Dade and Broward counties would no longer be required to give priority to minority vendors and contractors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Additionally, parimutuel slot facilities would no longer need to place an emphasis on hiring minority workers, nor need to report to the FGCC their minority hiring accomplishments. Eight parimutuel facilities in the two counties possess slot privileges from the FGCC.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/florida-senator-seeks-eliminate-dei-from-gaming-industry\/\">Florida Senator Seeks to Eliminate DEI From State Gaming Industry, Elevate Illegal Gambling Penalties<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A senator in Florida wants to rid DEI from the gaming industry The lawmaker also wants harsher penalties for illegal gambling A senator in Florida is seeking to overhaul the Sunshine State&#8217;s gam<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legislation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coffeemug.club\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}