Want more on Midwest casino progress? Go to Detroit.
SHAKOPEE, MN-Two of the three tribes in Gov. Tim Pawlenty's plan to build a casino in the Twin Cities area have dropped out because of the recent inclusion of the Canterbury Park racetrack in the deal.
Both the Red Lake Tribal Council and the Leech Lake Band have rejected the changed plan, leaving only the White Earth Band as part of the deal. The tribes' concern included the closeness of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community's Mystic Lake Casino to the Canterbury Racetrack and the fact that the owners of Canterbury are non-Indians.
Red Lake and Leech Lake still support an earlier casino proposal involving tribes and the state, but that plan stalled in the Legislature. In an effort to save the deal, Pawlenty merged his proposal with a racing plan by Canterbury Park, putting two casinos at the Shakopee track.
The modified legislation would authorize two casinos to be built at Canterbury Park's 380-acre Shakopee location, with one casino to be operated by Canterbury Park and one to be operated by Minnesota's Northern Tribes. Under the new model, Canterbury Park would be required to pay a $150 million up-front fee to the state, which is $50 million more than previously proposed. In exchange for the higher up-front payment, Canterbury Park would retain a greater percentage of gross gaming revenues from the slot machines and banked blackjack.
Pawlenty had promoted his casino deal as a way to enable the Red Lake, Leech Lake and White Earth bands to benefit from gambling, which they do only to a limited degree now because their reservations are far from the Twin Cities. Pawlenty said only about one in six members of the Chippewa tribe benefit from Indian gaming. The state would also be a major beneficiary of the new casinos--an estimated $160 million or more each year.
A Pawlenty spokesman says that despite the two tribes dropping out, the governor's office would continue to support the casino plan. The state is facing a budget shortfall of about $200 million over the next two years. The blended casino proposal--which needs the approval of the Minnesota Legislature--recently passed the House Jobs and Economic Policy and Finance Committee.
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