Business owners converged on the Capital Thursday trying to sell lawmakers on resort casinos.
The state will tackle the idea in this year's legislative session.
Proponents say the payoff could be tens of thousands of new jobs if lawmakers approve a bill to build three giant resort casinos in south Florida.
Gary Reifert?traveled from Broward County, where he says his limousine company is falling on hard times.
"The thing that bothers me the most is every time something comes up like this, everybody says, 'well, those aren't high-paying jobs, they're not high-tech jobs', but not everybody qualifies for those high-tech jobs and we need to put these people back to work," said Gary Reifert, Hollywood Limousine.
Under the bill, the casino operators would have to pump at least $2 billion into construction. That could mean plenty of work for contractors who desperately need it.
That's on top of all the permanent jobs that would come after the casinos open.
But there is some controversy. The gaming executives behind it have rubbed many lawmakers the wrong way.
Florida Chamber of Commerce president Mark Wilson is leading a high-profile campaign to defeat the legislation, predicting mega casinos would drive tourism away from our signature theme parks.
"This will cost jobs, this will cost communities economic development, this has never worked in places like Nevada and places like Atlantic City, this is a bad bet for Florida's future, and we look forward to the conversation," he said.
State economists say three new resort casinos could generate as much as $250 million a year in state sales taxes.
But, Florida could lose out on the $150 million it gets every year under a compact with the Seminole tribe.
The compact would be broken if new competitors - like the resort casinos - are allowed to operate in the state.
Governor Scott has made it very clear he doesn't want the state budget tied to the new revenue that would come from expanded gaming.
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