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Budget Restructuring and Gambling: Inevitable for Minnesota?

Posted on September 22nd, 2010

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The candidate for governor of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, political veteran Mark Dayton seemS to think that revenue emanating from an increase in taxes for the rich is not enough to close a gap caused by a budget deficit the state is facing. As part of his campaign, he is detailing his plan which includes additional cuts and more detailing of where income from tax increases goes. He says, “We came up with more cuts.” His new plan for the state budget was revealed last Tuesday, which detailed spending cuts that could save a total of $1.2 billion, including estimates that would save money from paperwork reduction, reducing the state staff’s upper levels, a reduction of contracts between the government and private companies and coordinating purchases of the state. Records from past efforts that point toward realizing the same goals show that they are difficult to achieve. Dayton also adds a plan to acquire fresh revenue from the operation of a casino to be owned by the state.

His plans for smaller savings include a cut of $3 by getting rid of the Trade office of the state, a move that may make him unpopular among state government insiders. He was quoted in saying, “Since I am not running for president, I will not need a trade office to support my international trade junkets, aimed at improving my presidential gravitas.” The competition for the gubernatorial seat is a race among three contenders: Dayton, state Rep. Tom Emmer of the Republican Party and Tom Horner of the Independence Party. The two other candidates have also divulged their budget plans, which included slashes in the budget of the state, although their plans were not as detailed as Dayton’s in terms of the programs they would be sacrificing to allow savings. A complete budget was not yet released by Horner, although he has proposed having sales taxes increased in some areas and cuts in others.

Dayton’s casino proposal includes the construction of a state-owned casino in the vicinity of the Mall of America and St. Paul International Airport which is expected to rake in $300 million in income, a substantial portion of which will be funneled to the coffers of the state. Horner, meanwhile, sets his sights on turning two horse tracks of the state into “racinos” by installing slot machines at them. Emmer meanwhile has already made known his position by sponsoring a “racino” bill during his term in the legislature. However, he sees his position as more of a move that would be more beneficial to the overall economy of the state, rather than it being a solution to the gapping deficit in the budget of the state. These plans by the three gubernatorial candidates may be in sync with actions conducted by certain groups to push expanded gabling to bring life to the weakening hospitality industry of the state. Profit Minnesota, a group made up of owners of bars and restaurants in the state, has been launching a campaign with the goal of allowing their establishments to install bingo, video lottery terminals, electronic pull tabs and bingo.

With the lagging industry in need of a boost, the expected incomes of these expanded gambling implements should give life to these establishments, and give a bit of aid to the huge budget gap of the state. The hospitality industry is a sector that cannot be ignored, since it employs more or less 200,000 residents of Minnesota. The industry’s revenue reaches $629 million every year. The stands of the three gubernatorial candidates is showing that whoever will win the seat, it may be inevitable that any move to approve expanded gambling or casino construction will be pushed. Thus, it seems that it would not matter who wins, as the state may be bound for more gambling action. The gambling option is even gaining more popularity with the residents of the state because an increase in casino or expanded gambling revenue would mean there would be no need to increase tax collection or push for more taxes among the citizenry. With more income for the people they could spend instead of paying taxes, they could use the money for a bit of fun in casinos or slot machines in horse racing tacks.