Northern tribe metro casino plan on Pawlenty’s desk

By DON DAVIS

St. Paul Bureau

The only new casino proposal Gov. Tim Pawlenty is considering would allow three northern Minnesota tribes to build a Twin Cities casino, his spokesman said Tuesday.

Press secretary Brian McClung said no other tribes have accepted the governor's proposal to split casino profits with the state. Also, Senate Minority Leader Dick Day, R-Owatonna, said he understands Pawlenty will endorse an agreement with the Leech Lake, Red Lake and White Earth bands of Chippewa next week. McClung would not confirm that, but said the governor wants to correct the unfairness that the three bands face with their remote casino producing little profit. “There hasn't been a decision yet,” McClung said.

Pawlenty's State of the State speech comes in Rochester on Tuesday. White Earth Chairwoman Erma Vizenor and Sen. Keith Langseth said Pawlenty did not mention his State of the State speech during a meeting at White Earth last week, but he did say he wants to make a decision quickly.

McClung and Day both mentioned Langseth, DFL-Glyndon, as a possible leader in any casino bill the 2005 Legislature considers. Day, who has had a long-held dream of building a casino at the Canterbury Park horse-racing track in the southern suburbs, said he hopes Langseth becomes a primary sponsor of the bill.

Langseth, however, appeared to lean more toward combining the so-called “racino” with a casino to help the three northern tribes. That could mean building a new casino at the race track, with profits split among the tribes, state and Canterbury. Langseth said he thinks this is the year the Senate can approve a new casino. A year ago, the state's richer tribes sent senators a message that they wanted lawmakers to hold off approving a new casino for a year. “It's been a year,” Langseth said.

While Langseth said he does not support gambling, the state's 18 tribal casinos are not helping many of the state’s Indians. Approving a new casino will be tough, he added. “I think it is going to get very sticky.”