Lottery 

This week the Minnesota House approved a bill that would ban the sale of lottery tickets at gas pumps, over the internet, and at ATMs. The legislation passed the Senate last week with a 56-8 vote and was on the floor of the House this week. After a brief discussion on the legislation regarding apprehension about breaking current vendor contracts, the House passed the bill with a 122-6 vote.  

The legislation now heads to the Governor who vetoed similar legislation last session. However, the Governor has signaled that he will allow the legislation to become law this session without his signature. See the Pioneer Press article below.  

Legislative Update

From the Star Tribune, Patrick Condon and J. Patrick Coolican, May 15, 2015  

"The state's top political leaders continued private negotiations Thursday over tens of billions of dollars in state spending, finally showing progress by cutting a deal on higher education spending, but not bridging enough major outstanding disagreements to rule out the growing likelihood of a special legislative session.

After several days of talks, Gov. Mark Dayton and leaders of the Senate DFL and House GOP struck deals on several slices of state spending Thursday. They decided that the public higher education system would get a spending increase over the next two years of $166 million to just over $3 billion total. Sen. Majority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, said that probably would not be enough to extend the current tuition freeze at public colleges and universities.

The higher education agreement leaves room for $30 million to the University of Minnesota Medical School, designed to elevate its national reputation. Negotiators also struck a deal to appropriate just over $2 billion for the state courts system and public safety programs - an increase of $111 million over two years.

Dayton backed off an earlier threat to veto a high-profile bill to ban the State Lottery from offering lottery games online and selling instant-play tickets at gas station pumps. The Senate had approved it by a wide bipartisan vote earlier and the House followed suit on Thursday. Dayton vetoed a similar bill last year, but Dayton this year will allow it to become law without his signature, said Matt Swenson, his spokesman."

Read the full article. 

Lottery 

From the Pioneer Press, Brian Bask, May 14, 2015 

"The Minnesota Lottery's experiment with paperless, instant-play tickets sold over the Internet and other platforms will come to an end because Gov. Mark Dayton decided Thursday not to veto legislation suspending the games.

The Legislature had sent Dayton the bill to stop the virtual games after overwhelming votes in the Senate last week and the House on Thursday. Spokesman Matt Swenson said Dayton would defer to their will rather than veto it, which could have subjected him to a possible override attempt. He will allow it to become law without his signature.

After the law goes into effect early next week, the lottery must halt the games within four months. The games were seen as a way to connect with next-generation players who do much of their business on laptops, tablets and smart-phones.

Dayton vetoed a similar bill last year that would have suspended the electronic "scratch-off" ticket sales at gas pumps, through ATMs and over the Internet. Lawmakers had adjourned for the year, so they had no opportunity to override his veto.

Lawmakers insist the lottery overstepped its bounds by branching out into electronic games without explicit Legislative approval. When those games went live early last year, Minnesota was the first state to sell instant-play games on the Internet in addition to a subscription service for draw games like Powerball."

Read the full article. 

Wages

From the Star Tribune, Adam Belz, May 13, 2015 

"Ahead of a decisive meeting, the Metropolitan Airports Commission appears set to raise the minimum wage at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to $10 an hour, a step that would leave neither side satisfied in a roiling debate over what to pay low-wage employees of airline subcontractors.

MAC Chief Executive Jeff Hamiel recommended in a memo that commissioners at a meeting next Monday set a minimum wage for airport workers that is $1 an hour higher than the state minimum wage.

That means the pay floor at the airport would be $10 an hour on Aug. 1, when the Minnesota minimum wage rises to $9, and $10.50 an hour in August 2016, when the state wage rises again.

About 2,800 airport workers would be covered by the requirement. Workers say the increase is not enough, while airlines say no difference from the state level is justified.

The Service Employees International Union, which has been pushing the MAC for a $15-an-hour pay floor at the airport, is urging a no vote to Hamiel's recommendation. It also noted that about 300 rental car workers will not be eligible."

Read the full article.