St. Paul, MN — Sen. Karin Housley, R-Stillwater, and Rep Keith Franke, R-St. Paul Park, today issued the following statements regarding Gov. Tim Walz’s comments at a news conference Monday on proposed electronic pull tab legislation.
“Our restaurants, VFWs, charities, and other organizations have been through one of the most difficult year in recent memory — now is the worst possible time to be pulling the rug out from under them," Sen. Housley said. "Gov. Walz should be working with us to help our charities and small businesses, not siding with big monied interests whose concerns have already been dismissed by an administrative law judge.”
“By siding with big-moneyed casinos against the interests of our local charities, bars and restaurants, Gov. Walz again perpetuates the myth that electronic pull tabs violate the tribal gambling monopoly," Franke said. "The truth is that a state administrative law judge ruled last year that litigation brought by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux ‘failed to present compelling evidence to show that open-all electronic pull-tabs mimic a video slot machine.’ Now more than ever we should be supporting our charities and their small business partners. Gov. Walz does a real disservice to all Minnesotans by misleading them and siding against the interests of our local charities, disability groups, veterans’ clubs, youth sports' associations, bars and restaurants.”
Sen. Housley and Rep. Franke held a news conference last week to raise concerns about proposed legislation in the House DFL Jobs bill that would effectively end e-pull tabs in their current form, and would result in a loss of more than $100 million in revenue for charities, bars and restaurants, and worker wages, according to the bill's fiscal note.
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Background: Read administrative law judge Barbara Case’s 2020 order dismissing the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s petition regarding e-pull tabs.