Editorial: Gambling on the Vikes

Talk about it

One might have expected any number of issues pertaining to senior citizens to dominate discussion during District 22B Rep. Rod Hamilton’s Tuesday morning visit to Ecumen Meadows, a senior housing facility in Worthington.

That was nowhere near the case.

Not even the subject of property taxes, a hot topic nowadays given recently issued truth-in-taxation statements, seemed to stir many in attendance.

Instead, most seemed to be interested in the future of the Minnesota Vikings, and whether or not a new stadium will be constructed for the team. Much has been written on this page — and reported in this newspaper — on the ongoing stadium saga. If Tuesday was any indication, plenty of interest remains.

Meanwhile, while Hamilton visited Worthington, a state Senate hearing on Vikings stadium funding was taking place in St. Paul. Members of the Senate Taxes and State Government committees took no action after hearing from nearly 70 testifiers during the five-and-a-half-hour hearing.

Much of the hearing Tuesday focused on expanding gambling in Minnesota to help fund a new stadium. Hamilton, incidentally, supports a racino that he believes would not only build a stadium, but help provide state funding in any number of additional areas. Many at the Ecumen Meadows event seemed to agree with him.

Also Tuesday, District 22 Sen. Doug Magnus reintroduced his proposal that would allow a casino in downtown Minneapolis that he said could aid with stadium construction costs.

No matter what — even with an unexpected surplus — money from the state’s general fund should not go toward a stadium. If a consensus of legislators share that viewpoint, it may well take some form of new gambling to keep the Vikings in Minnesota. In fact, we’d say it’s a pretty safe bet.

Tags: opinion, editorials, minnesota, legislature, politics, vikings, hamilton, magnus