MIDDLEBURG, Fla.-- Usually bustling at lunch hour, Internet cafés all over North Florida were dark and quiet Thursday, And many like Players Sweepstakes in Middleburg were closed. They're not affiliated with the organization Allied Veterans, But they're preparing for the backlash that could come from Tallahassee.
"We are having some of our systems reviewed just to make sure we have no problems," said Cindy Taylor, owner of Players Sweepstakes.
In a bill revealed first to Action News this week, Sen. John Thrasher proposed shutting down all Internet cafés.
"These things are not good for the state of Florida," said Thrasher. "There have been some dishonest dealings involved in them, and we don't need this in our state."
Thrasher says he plans to introduce the bill in a committee meeting on Monday.
Taylor said it could keep the seats at her sweepstakes location empty for good, and that Thrasher's proposal is unfair.
"I don't think we should all be put into the same basket with the people that have done wrong," she said. "We have done everything that we're supposed to do. We're a business, we pay our taxes just like everybody else does. I don't think it's fair that he'd put us in the same group."