ORANGE PARK, Fla. – The state legislature voted Thursday evening to shut down Internet cafes across the state of Florida. The bill will now goes to Governor Rick Scott's desk for final approval.
Channel 4 was inside the Copa Cabana Internet Cafe in Orange Park when the news broke out of Tallahassee that an Internet cafe ban would be likely.
The senate voted 36-4 to close Internet cafes.
"Now I have to find another job," said Mimi Zienta. "For our age it's hard to find a job now."
Zienta has worked at the Westside Internet cafe for 6 years and was fighting back tears as she said that she wasn't sure what she'd be able to do for work.
"I'm upset, I have a lot of friends," said Zienta. "We know each other, we spend holidays here and now might not see each other forever."
State Lawmakers like John Thrasher voted to shut down the cafes, stating it was the best move for the state after the scandal surrounding Allied Veterans Internet Cafes broke last month.
Workers and players feel they're being punished for what happened through Allied Veterans.
"It's a real shame. I thought the Governor was going to step up to the plate here," said Bill Durham. "Hopefully, he'll stand up to what he said. That was one of his campaign promises, getting jobs, creating jobs, if you let this happen, not doing what you said you were going to do."
"I do its time we make some adjustments," said John Thrasher. "I think we've gone too long without doing that. As a result, we had the problems we had with Allied Vets of the world. Frankly there's some other areas which we have issues narrowly defining what constitutes slot machine, what constitutes gambling in the state of Florida. "I think we'll be able to understand right lines if they cross those lines. They need to make adjustments."