Local legislators say they had the votes to pass a racino during the special session that ended the state government shutdown, but couldn’t get the legislation heard on the floor.
Sen. Claire Robling, R-Jordan, who spent late hours this last week finalizing details in bills, said she had the governor’s agreement but wasn’t in on the last meeting where the list of bills was finalized. The Republican leadership felt it didn’t have the votes to include a racino, she said.
“I think they were wrong. I had been counting the votes and we worked really hard to get them,” she said Wednesday morning. “It was just the right time yesterday when people were thinking the school shifts and how to pay it back. We had some votes we might normally not have had.”
Both she and Rep. Michael Beard, R-Shakopee, who threatened to reject the budget deal without racino legislation, were crushed.
Beard said more than enough spare votes were there to pass it, but not the super majority needed to suspend the rules to hear the racino separate from pre-negotiated bills.
"I am frustrated beyond belief," Beard said.
Something was afoot; I don't know what."
A racino could still come up with a Vikings stadium package special session or in the next legislative session.
“We believe our efforts this year have increased support for racinos in Minnesota, both among the public and among lawmakers in St. Paul, and we remain committed to the adoption of racino legislation in Minnesota at the earliest possible time,” Canterbury President Randy Sampson said in announcement of Canterbury's re-opening.
>
We publish an annual Resident’s Guide for each of our communities. It’s a tremendous source of local information – containing lists of services, names of organizations, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and much more. Keep it handy; use it often. You can find information from the Resident’s Guide here, or order a copy of the publication from our Circulation Department by calling (952) 345-6682 or e-mailing 
Southwest Newspapers’ weekly community papers have histories that go as far back as the Civil War era. Several were started from scratch as our communities began to grow in the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s. These popular newspapers routinely win awards of excellence from organizations like the Minnesota Newspaper Association. 
I'm not assuming anything. I'm saying someone has to know who these top people were that remained in the meetings. You stated that lawmakers and committee chairs were removed from the meetings. They yhave to know who the people were in the meeting that ejected them. I find it hard to believe that all the politicians who were ejected from these meetings are so tight lipped that they are refusing to give out any names. It's harder to believe that the media with all it's power and contacts cannot determine who remained in the meetings. These are obviously the lawmakers (racketeers) who made the decision to keep the vote from the floor.
I certainly hope the media follows through on filing a lawsuit for the illegal way these meetings were held. This is likely the only group that has enough power to make it happen and now is the time to use the power of the press.
As you stated, many of these negotiations were illegally held in private. I believe the Valley News should try to get this information under the
Freedom of Information Act. If the Valley News really wanted to investigate this item many of the unhappy Legislators would possibly supply information on who these people were. With the hundreds of people involved in these negotiations someone must have this information.
By the same shutdown logic, I should start forcing people to do pushups in the JI office whenever they want to renew their subscriptions. The bills could even say, "Mail in your bill, or feel free to stop by your friendly newspaper office to face THE GAUNTLET."
Just my two cents, adjusted for inflation, and with 7% sales tax deducted.