News

The three major candidates for Governor of Minnesota are making their views known on gambling expansion, and the news isn’t good for Minnesota tribes.

MIGA Executive Director John McCarthy said that Independence Party candidate Tom Horner, Republican nominee Tom Emmer, and DFL standard-bearer Mark Dayton are “only looking at the up-side” of opening state-sponsored casinos in Minnesota, without looking at the cost to Indian tribes and rural communities. (more…)

Despite aggressive last-minute political maneuvers by racino supporters, the Minnesota Legislature adjourned on May 17 without passing the racino proposal or any other measure to expand gambling in the state.

Minnesota Indian Gaming Association (MIGA) Executive Director John McCarthy said that opposition to the racino cut across party lines, and reflected a wide range of concerns with gambling expansion. (more…)

A report issued by the Minnesota legislature’s non-partisan House Research Department has provided legislators with a sharp reality check on the amount of revenue they should expect from proposed racinos at Canterbury Park and Running Aces Harness Track.

While Racino Now lobbyist Dick Day claims the proposed racinos will generate $125 million per year for the state, a memo issued February 18 by House Research Director Patrick McCormack suggests the amount will be substantially lower. (more…)

A statewide non-partisan think tank has published a report challenging the claims made by Racino Now, the racino advocacy group led by former State Senator Dick Day, who serves as the group’s primary spokesperson. (more…)

SF 2950, a bill that would have authorized privately owned racinos at Canterbury Park and Running Aces Harness Track, failed to pass out of a key Minnesota Senate committee last Wednesday after the bill’s author, Senator Dan Sparks, asked committee members to table the measure instead of proceeding to a vote. (more…)

The “Owatonna People’s Press has reported that Republicans in Steele County have overwhelmingly voted to oppose the proposed racino, rejecting a plea for support from the area’s former state senator and Racino Now spokesperson Dick Day. Here’s the full text of the February 27 story: (more…)

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has announced that it gave a record $129 million in economic development loans in FY 2009 to tribes in Minnesota and nationwide, and has already made $52 million in loans during FY 2010 to tribes in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. The loans are in addition to about $60 million awarded in grants to various tribes and charitable organizations.

The most recent loans include one to the Upper Sioux Community, which received a $9 million loan and a $1 million grant to add rooms at the tribe’s hotel and enlarge gaming space within its Prairie’s Edge Casino. (more…)

The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe donated more than $513,000 in cash and in-kind contributions to community programs in Minnesota and nationwide in 2009, according to tribal officials. The contributions went to 44 of Minnesota’s 67 counties, and two Wisconsin counties that border on Mille Lacs’ tribal lands.
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Gambling revenue is not the solution to Minnesota’s budget problems, says an editorial in the February 11 Grand Forks Herald. Here is the complete text of the column: (more…)

In a commentary published today in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Mille Lacs Chief Executive warns that adding state-sponsored casinos at metro area racetracks will hurt her tribe and other rural casino operations. Here’s the complete text of Anderson’s column: (more…)