Hello from the State Capitol,
Yesterday, I was honored to hold a State Capitol press conference and rally at the State Capitol to draw attention to a significant problem in the House Taxes bill that will devastate Minnesota’s charities and youth sports associations.
I was pleased to be joined by former NHL All-Star Devan Dubnyk, Stanley Cup champion Tom Chorske, former NHL defensemen Nate Prosser, Protect Our Charities Executive Director Keith Franke, representatives from Allied Charities, and numerous impacted constituents including combat Veterans, firefighters, Lions Club members, and youth sports families from across our state.
The legislation we are trying to stop centers on a House Democrat provision that would effectively end the popular electronic pull tabs as we know them.
As I’ve discussed previously, electronic pull tab popularity has soared over the past few years, and they have been a godsend for bars and other establishments that offer them. In 2022 alone, electronic pull tabs generated almost $2 billion in revenue. The charitable gaming proceeds from electronic pull tabs are then distributed to needy organizations in our communities.
Specific language in the House Democrat omnibus tax bill (H.F. 1938) eliminates the “open all” feature that has been in use in electronic pull-tab games for years. This is a massive issue that will significantly affect any nonprofit that receives charitable gambling proceeds. It will negatively impact your local youth sports teams and associations, EMS groups, Boy and Girl Scouts, local charities, legions and VFW’s, as well as the bars and establishments that sell pull tabs.
The bill, which has passed the House chamber and is headed to conference committee, is not yet signed into law, and can still be removed before it reaches the Governor’s desk. It’s my hope that by drawing attention to this problem that cooler heads will eventually prevail and that we will not financially devastate those who rely on charitable gaming proceeds to further their mission.
Have a good weekend,
Shane