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Slots Suggested in Minnesota

Slot machines are being suggested as one of the ways that the state of Minnesota could potentially deal with its tremendous budget deficit. The Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) recently discussed state lawmakers’ plight in dealing with a shortage that’s expected to top four-point-eight billion dollars in the next two years. In a public address announcing the state budget last week, Governor Tim Pawlenty described a mercenary agenda of accounting and money shifts and spending cuts. The Legislature is struggling with the question of how to raise money, however. Right now, a tax increase is looking like the most-likely candidate – albeit one that is intensely unpopular with voters. Some have suggested that slot machines could be a robust alternative.

Dick Day, a GOP Senator, has announced his intention to put forth a bill that would install slot games at Canterbury Park, a race track. According to Day’s calculations, the gambling devices at Canterbury Park could funnel some two hundred million dollars annually into the state’s general spending fund. When pressed for more details, Day demurred by saying that it was still very early in the process, and he was still trying to drum up strong bipartisan support for his proposal. He did say that, with other states’s visible success in legalizing and installing slot machines, there is no reason why such a thing couldn’t be done in Minnesota as well.

Phyllis Kahn, a Democrat representative who calls gambling a “regressive tax on stupidity,” has already put forth a bill to allow slot machines at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport.

Back to February 2009 Archive.