Two major business groups back Seminole compact

In a new television ad, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association --- two of the Capitol's most-influential business lobbies --- urge an extension of a state gambling agreement with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The ad comes as a key part of the agreement, allowing games such as blackjack at Seminole casinos, is scheduled to expire this summer. Under the existing agreement, known as a compact, the tribe agreed to pay the state a minimum of $1 billion over five years. The Chamber of Commerce and the Restaurant and Lodging Association have fought gambling-expansion proposals, such as allowing resort casinos in South Florida. The television ad appears to try to draw a line between extending the Seminole compact and allowing expanded gambling at other facilities. "The Seminole compact has been good for Florida and the economy, while controlling the expansion of gaming, and that's good for everybody," Mark Wilson, president and chief executive officer of the Chamber of Commerce, says in the ad. House Majority Leader Dana Young, R-Tampa, released a plan last week that would allow two Las Vegas-style casinos in South Florida and also allow slot machines at two additional greyhound tracks.