Some of Florida’s devout religious leaders are divided over the idea of banning all internet gaming cafes in the state.

Father Bob Caudill is a lifelong, committed Catholic.  He tells our partner Action News his parish’s budget increased 30 percent thanks to donations from gaming centers.

"I'm seeing more families in cars than I've ever seen in my 22 years," said Caudill. "We had five people sleeping in the soup kitchen last night that were a family and this happens on a daily basis."

On the other side, there’s Bill Bunkley.  He represents the Florida Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the public policy agency for the Southern Baptist Convention, which opposes all formers of gambling.

Bunkley says sweepstakes are predatory gambling outfits that target seniors.

"Quite frankly, old folks are getting ripped off," said Bunkley. "It's not to any fault of themselves but this needs to be addressed and this needs to be cleaned up."

He says seniors who go to the cafes typically spend their V.A. and Social Security benefit money when they get them at the beginning of the month.

“They’re basically then having to go get social services by the tenth or fifteen of the month because they’re out of money,” Bunkley says.

So far a House committee and Senate committee in Tallahassee have approved different versions of bills that would ban all internet gaming cafes in Florida.