Posted: 2/10/05
By Aaron Vehling
Casinos, gay marriage and Governor Tim Pawlentyís proposed cuts for MinnesotaCare were among topics discussed at a town hall meeting Saturday morning at Rriattiís in Rush City.
About six people gathered at a table in the restaurant, joined by Sen. Sean Nienow, R-Cambridge, Rep. Pete Nelson, R-Lindstrom, and Rep. Rob Eastlund, R-Isanti.
One concern aired was the issue of casinos. A woman who lives in Columbus Township expressed dismay over rumors of a possible casino with a race track near her home. She said she wondered about the stateís expansion into gambling.
Nienow said that the current gaming compacts are ìterribly flawed.î
Nelson agreed. He said that Minnesotaís was the first gaming compact with Native Americans and is also the worst.
When the compact was signed, he said, the state was ìthinking about bingo halls and not what you see today.î
He compared Minnesotaís own compacts with those of Illinois. He said that the state of Minnesota gets about $150,000 annually whereas Illinois, which he noted has fewer Native Americans than Minnesota, receives about $1.6 billion from gaming.
Nienow said that as few as 100 tribal members receive money from casinos, while others are left impoverished.
ìYou have millionaires on one end and public assistance on the other,î he said.
Another concern among the attendees was the governorís proposal to reduce funding to MinnesotaCare.
Nienow said that the proposal focuses on making it harder for able-bodied adults without children to receive care.
Nelson reminded the group that it was not set in stone.
ìItís just a proposal,î he said.
Nienow also addressed the issue of public transit along the Rush Line corridor.
He said that $1 million has been set aside for the planning stages of the Rush Line, which is a bus line that travels between St. Paul and Hinckley. Rail is not yet included as part of the measure.
Jay Johnson of North Branch brought up the issue of rights for gay partners.
He said he was not concerned about the religious aspect of marriage, but that it was unfair that those in gay unions could not be granted the same legal benefits as a married couple, such as health benefits and ownership.
Eastlund said that the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman has more to do with just culture, but instead rests on the notion of procreation as a means of transmitting values.
ìIt goes beyond sexual preference,î he said.
Nienow said that he would rather see the issue determined legislatively, as opposed to in the courts.
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