Hello from the State Capitol,
It is expected that there will be significantly less charitable gaming revenue to be spread throughout Minnesota towns this year. This is due to a law passed last session by the legislative majority that
restricted e-gambling features that could mimic video slot machines.
RESTORING ELECTRONIC PULL TABS
American Legions, VFW’s, and other organizations that offer the wildly successful electronic pull tabs are noticing a significant decline in use. With the free plays, bonus games, and the “open-all feature” having disappeared, interest in the games has dwindled. Reports range anywhere from a 20% to 44% declines across the state, based on a monthly analysis comparing January 2024 and January 2025 usage.
Last year $386 million was generated in net revenue from the gaming devices, and the charitable gaming proceeds from them were distributed to needy organizations in our communities. These include EMS groups, food shelves, youth sports teams and associations, Boy and Girl Scouts, and many other local charities.
So even if you used a 30% decline over a year’s time, that would result in a $115 million annual loss for charities statewide.
Because of this, I am co-authoring legislation that would return electronic pull tabs to its original form. Our service organizations play such an important role in northwestern Minnesota and throughout the state, and its clear that without change they will be facing devastating financial losses now and in the future.
FISHING LICENSES FOR SENIOR CITIZENS
This week in our House environment committee, we debated 3 bills that would make it easier for a senior citizen to obtain a statewide fishing license. The first bill would cut the price of an angling license for a person over the age of 65 to $15. The second would drop the age of a free fishing license from age 90 to 65, and the third would allow a person aged 65 or older to obtain a permanent free fishing license.
It’s very likely most senior citizens who are currently buying a fishing license have been paying that license fee their entire lives. As they enter their golden years on limited incomes, it seems the right thing to do is allow them to catch fish in this state at a cheaper rate or at no charge.
LOCAL VISITORS
I had a great visit with a large group from NW Minnesota representing our rural electric cooperatives as they were in St. Paul advocating for responsible energy policy. Specific issues included ending the nuclear moratorium which restricts our ability to meet our state’s energy needs along with reforms on net metering.
I always love having friends from back home visit the Capitol! It was a real pleasure to spend time with Darrin Smedsmo this past week while he attended the Explore Minnesota Tourism Conference.
Our corn and soybean farmers made their way to the Capitol this week to inform legislators about issues and concerns on the farm. Glad to have Jim Kukowski stop by my office to visit about his concerns about the public waters inventory bill passed last session. We also discussed biodiesel and sustainable aircraft fuel and an interesting new firefighting foam concentrate made from soybeans that will be safer and replace PFAS based foams.
