Lawmakers are rolling the dice again with a proposal to bring sports gambling to Minnesota.
Various gambling bills have had support in recent years, but sponsors couldn't get it over the finish line in St. Paul despite bipartisan support.
"We got to this point, at the end of last session and we ran out of time," Representative Cedrick Frazier (DFL- New Hope) said. "So we're taking this as a starting point to move it forward. And I, I do think, and I'm hopeful that, at least in the House, we can move this forward and maybe get to a point prior to the end of the session to finally get this done.
Frazier calls the bill the culmination of many years of negotiations between entities that would be directly affected by sports gambling, including Native American tribes and horse racing tracks, along with the area's professional sports franchises.
Also taking part in the talks were community advocates with concerns about gambling addiction. The proposal includes mandatory self-exclusion programs, funding for problem gambling treatment, strict advertising regulations to limit exposure to minors, and data-driven monitoring systems to identify risky betting behavior. The bill also calls for a significant portion of the tax revenue generated from sports betting to be dedicated to mental health and gambling addiction resources.
Frazier says the most important element of the proposal is the support of those programs.
"The goal is to have this to be a model for the rest of the country, for any other jurisdictions that are going to decide to implement this law and create this industry," Frazier explains. "That this is a model for how you put in safeguards, intervention and prevention, guard rails around it."
The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Liish Kozlowski (DFL-Duluth), also ensures that Minnesota’s Tribal nations, which have long played a central role in the state’s gaming industry, are key players. The framework of how sports gambling is implemented between the state's tribes and racing tracks has long been a hangup for getting a bill through the House.
“Respecting Tribal sovereignty and ensuring a fair, regulated, and competitive market emerges in Minnesota is essential,” said Rep. Kozlowski. “For an entire generation now, Minnesota’s sovereign Tribal governments have proven their ability to successfully and safely conduct gaming in an environment that is heavily regulated by Tribal authorities, Minnesota state agencies, and the federal government."
The House will return to a 67-67 tie between Republicans and Democrats after a special election this week was won by DFLer David Gottfried. He will be sworn in on Monday. Anything that passes through the House - including a two-year budget - will have to receive bipartisan support.