Gambling has been hot issue at Legislature

Posted 3/21/01

Gambling has been hot issue at Legislature

by T.W. Budig
ECM capitol reporter

Gambling was a hot issue at the Legislature last week as a Senate committee held a hearing on a proposal for a state owned, privately managed casino.

Sen. Dick Day, R, Owatonna, and Rep. Tom Hackbarth, R, Cedar, are carrying legislation that would create such a casino ñ Day estimates the metro casino could generate $200 million to $500 million a year for the state.

Another casino bill by Sen. Doug Johnson, DFL, Tower, would invite Indian interests into the venture.

Abandoning his earlier legislation, Day at last weekís Senate hearing proposed putting the whole casino question before the voters in the form of a constitutional amendment.

But the raw emotions surrounding the issue of gambling ñ by extension Indian gaming ñ soon evinced itself with tribal officials talking of stolen futures and even Day, a Catholic, calling a church representative hypocritical for testifying against the proposed state casino.

ìIím already in Purgatory so why not step all the way,î said Day before making his charge.
Gambling is so common in his parish that someone walking by might suppose ìB26î was part of a prayer, he quipped.

But after the hearing, Day indicated that he didnít believe that his bill, which was temporarily or very temporarily laid aside, would have survived a committee vote.

Hackbarth, while saying that a critical committee chairman in the House seemed favorably disposed towards the casino bill, doubts that it will receive a hearing this year.

But a lot of things can happen during a session.
State sponsored gaming isnít new, of course.
European monarchs, such as those free spending French kings, use to run state lotteries all the time in order to keep their lifestyles sufficiently cranked-up.

Across the Channel, Queen Elizabeth sponsored a national lottery which took two years conduct, which is long time to remember where you put the lottery ticket.

In defense of the bluebloods, they had no real social contract with their people other than perhaps on the safe temperature range for boiling oil.

Things are different now, supposedly.
The State of Minnesota has sponsored gambling for a number of years. Proceeds have funded millions of dollars worth of natural resource programs and initiatives.

Still, itís a little sad to think the relationship between the people and their government is apparently so lacking in fidelity that the state needs to offer at best recreation or at worse sheer fantasy to coax extra coins out its the people.
But then its worked in the past ñ to a point.