Commentary; Posted: 3/10/04

Pawlenty energizes gambling debate in state

T.W. Budig
ECM Capitol Reporter

Gambling has become one of the top issues of the 2004 legislative session. Gov. Pawlenty energized the debate in his State of the State Address in which he spoke of reexamining the gaming compacts the state signed with Native American tribes.

Many lawmakers believe the state walked away with a lousy deal.

Indeed, just last week the governor in presenting his supplemental budget ó a fiscal exercise which bites at hospital and nursing home and hold promise of more state worker layoffs ó remarking that in setting the budget he excluded gaming revenues ìfor now.î

Few missed the implications of those words.

The House has already passed racino, a proposed gaming expansion at Canterbury Park, which supporters insist could yield the state $100 million a year.

House Speaker Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, last week said racino revenues could be used to make good cuts to hospitals and nursing homes.

So grandma can still win even if she can no longer visits the casino.

Pawlenty for the moment is silent on racino or other gambling schemes while negotiations with the Indian tribes on the compacts continue.

The governor gave no indication of how talks are going.

In the Senate, most DFLers remain opposed to expanding gambling in Minnesota.

Just recently, the DFL senator whose committee oversees gambling gave a homily on the undesirability of expansion.

Sen. Jim Vickerman, DFL-Tracy, spoke during a hearing devoted to examining the small mess at the Minnesota State Lottery, perhaps not a wholly unrelated subject as the state lottery plays a role in various gambling proposals.

House Republicans like to accuse Senate DFLers of being wholly owned subsidiaries of the Native American tribes.

This is in reference to the hundreds of thousands of dollars tribal political action committees pump into DFL coffers ó relatively few coins clatter into Republican cups.

Yet itís not unusual for a special interest to favor one party over another.

Several local lawmakers are carrying gambling bills this session.

Rep. Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar, has a bill that would let voters decide on establishing a metro casino. Asking price for the license to operate the casino: $450 million.

The bill was tabled last week in the House.

Rep. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, is authoring legislation that could place a harness racing track in Columbus Township.

The bill advanced in the House, but there were discussions on whether the proposal had less to do with harness racing than the chance to introduce other forms of gambling.

A promoter flatly told House committee members the harness track would not be feasible without a card club.

Questions from committee members reassured doubtful visitors they had not wandered mistakenly into the agriculture committee.

Chair Jim Rhodes, R-St. Louis Park, asked a promoter whether a filly was a breed of horse.

The chairman learned a filly is actually a female horse.

Committee members also learned there are 15 stallions in Minnesota willing to supply a harness racing industry with harness horses.

While all the gambling bills are long shots, perhaps one with a Senate hook is authored by Rep. Bill Haas, R-Champlin.

Haasí bill allows the Red Lake and White Earth Indian tribes to establish a metro casino ó the tribes say their own casinos are too isolated to bring in the dollars seen by other tribes.

The Minnesota Indian Gaming Association, which most Indian gaming tribes in Minnesota are members, opposes the bill.

Still, the bill has a Senate DFL sponsor in Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul.

Advocates say the proposed casino could reap Minnesota $90 million a year in revenues.

If any gambling expansion proposal could tempt the DFL Senate, one that benefits Native Americans might seem most acceptable.

But for now, itís a matter of waiting for Pawlenty to play his cards.

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