Gov. Scott Signs Off On Amusement Games Bill
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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - Two years after state lawmakers effectively shut down Internet cafes across the state, Gov. Rick Scott has signed a bill aimed at making sure that businesses such as Dave & Buster's and Chuck E. Cheese's are not inadvertently affected.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jay Trumbull, R-Panama City, was dubbed the "Family Amusement Games Act" and provides detailed guidelines for the use of amusement games and machines.
Lawmakers said during this spring's regular legislative session that the bill would provide certainty to businesses such as Dave & Buster's and Chuck E. Cheese's. Lawmakers moved quickly in 2013 to pass a measure targeting Internet cafes, which had spread across the state and were accused of allowing computer-based illegal gambling.
In the bill signed Tuesday by Scott, the Legislature pointed to a "compelling state interest in clarifying the operation and use of amusement games or machines to ensure that provisions regulating these devices are not subject to abuse or interpreted in any manner as creating an exception to the state's general prohibitions against gambling."
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
