Legislators: More gambling good for Minnesota? Certainly

If Minnesota voters told us anything in November, it was that business as usual would no longer be tolerated.

Business as usual has meant that although more than 70 percent of Minnesotans want racinos, it hasn't happened.

The people are way ahead of the politicians. They're not fooled by the special interests that far too often prevent popular ideas from becoming law.

They understand that putting a relatively small number of slot machines into two locations where numerous forms of gambling already exist is not an expansion of gambling -- it's an expansion of jobs.

Best estimates are that racinos would bring in more than $125 million annually and create thousands of badly needed jobs in the construction, hospitality and agriculture industries in our state, all without increasing anyone's taxes.

For starters, after passage of the racino bill, Canterbury Park and Running Aces would begin to beef up their purses. Like a magnet attracting metal, bigger purses will draw horses back from states like Iowa and Indiana, which already have racinos.

That return of horses would, in turn, provide a major shot in the arm for Minnesota's agricultural industry, and its horse industry in particular -- an industry that, according to a researcher at the University of Minnesota, generated nearly $1 billion in annual economic activity as recently as 2003.

And it doesn't stop there. Our badly hurting construction industry will get its own stimulus.

Someone has to design and build the racino additions and supply the construction materials. New hospitality jobs paying living wages, plus benefits, will be created at the racinos themselves.

Want a Minnesota-grown stimulus bill? Look at what has happened in the 12 states with racinos.

Pennsylvania estimates that by 2008, racinos had added more than 44,000 jobs and $3.5 billion of economic activity. Pennsylvania has leveraged racino revenues to reduce property taxes and invest in further economic development.

That's a jackpot for taxpayers.

Some attack the racinos as anti-tribal-government. Not true.

More than 20 years ago, the tribes were given the opportunity under federal law to engage in any type of legal gambling permitted in the state. Our state entered into a gaming compact with the tribes unlike any other in the nation.

The state receives no revenue from casino business operations, and the compact never expires, meaning Minnesota cannot require renegotiation to receive the same benefits as other states.

What's done is done. But it is important to know that the compact does not give existing casino owners a tax-free monopoly on gaming in the state. Like Oklahoma and Florida, Minnesota can allow state-licensed casinos to compete with tribal casinos.

For some Minnesotans, gaming of any type is wrong. Fair enough. But that genie is long out of the bottle. We've had legalized gaming in the state for years.

It's long past time to level the playing field and at the same time give our economy a shot in the arm. Minnesota's economy isn't going to get back on track by doing just one thing. We need to do a lot of small things well.

That means no more business as usual. One of the smartest first steps is to listen to the people -- they want the Legislature to pass the racino bill this year.

David Senjem, R-Rochester, and Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, are members of the Minnesota Senate. Bob Gunther, R-Fairmont, is a member of the Minnesota House.