ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A bill to legalize sports betting in Minnesota is in serious trouble, running afoul of partisan rancor over the arrest of a state senator on charges of theft.
One of the main authors, the Democratic senator. Matt Klein, of Mendota Heights, isn’t ready to call sports betting dead. But he said in an interview Thursday that he is less optimistic than he was before Democratic Sen. Nicole Mitchell of Woodbury was accused last week of breaking into her stepmother’s home.
In the House, a Republican supporter of sports betting who is seen as key to any bipartisan agreement, Rep. Pat Garófaloof Farmington, said he thinks the project is effectively dead this year, although came closer than ever before.
“It’s like classic Minnesota sports, we won by a touchdown with two minutes left, we had the ball and we turned it over,” Garofalo said in an interview. “The bandits scored and it went to extra time. We missed a field goal and now, you know, it’s done.”
Mitchell told police he broke in because his stepmother refused to give him items of sentimental value from his late father, including his ashes, according to the criminal complaint. Senate Democrats excluded her from caucus meetings and removed her from her committees, but did not publicly call for her to resign. Her lawyer said she deserves due process and will not resign.
Mitchell resumed voting this week on the Senate floor – where Democrats hold just a one-seat majority – even on votes that affect their fate. Senate Republicans forced hours of debate over failed attempts to remove it, slowing the pace of legislation with less than three weeks left in the session. An ethics panel will consider a Republican Party complaint against her on Tuesday.
Sports betting has grown rapidly to at least 38 states in recent years, but the the chances of many more states joining them seem low this year due to political resistance and the sometimes competing financial interests of existing gambling operators. Sports betting fans in Missouri filed petitions on Thursday to try to get the issue on the November ballot, but the proposals were stopped in Alabama It is Georgia.
Legalizing sports betting in Minnesota would require bipartisan support due to narrow Democratic majorities in both chambers. Some Republicans and Democrats would vote against it no matter what. The bills being discussed would put sports betting under the control of the state’s Native American tribes, both in their land-based casinos and off reservations through lucrative mobile apps. Major unresolved points of contention include whether the two horse racing tracks and the state’s charitable gaming operations should receive any part of the lawsuit.
“It was always a bipartisan bill. And bipartisanship has taken a bit of a hit here in the last few weeks,” Klein said.
Klein said he stood by comments he first made on Minnesota Public Radio on Wednesday, that he would have estimated the chances of approval at 60% to 70% a month ago, but now puts them at 20%.
Democratic Gov. Tim Walz told reporters he would sign a sports betting bill if it reached his desk, but that Klein is probably right.
Kline said he is still talking with Republican Sen. Jeremy Miller of Winona, who agreed that the dispute over Mitchell’s continued presence in the Senate makes things more complicated.
“I still think there is a way. I think it’s a narrow path. But if we can bring together the interested parties and work to reach an agreement, there is still an opportunity to achieve it,” said Miller. “But with each passing day that becomes less and less likely.”
The House’s lead sponsor, Democratic Rep. Zack Stephenson of Coon Rapids, said he still estimates the chances at 50%.
“This will always be a difficult project to pull together even under the best of circumstances, and we certainly have a lot of challenges right now,” Stephenson said.
Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman of Brooklyn Park told reporters the House will likely pass the bill in the remaining days of the session without focusing too much on what may or may not pass the Senate.
“We can send something and maybe it will help break the impasse,” Hortman said.
