'There are two changes that benefit charities that hopefully will help make this a wash for charitable revenues.' Nick Frentz, DFL-North Mankato, said the legislation includes provisions aimed at holding charities harmless.

Late in the legislative session that ended May 22, a provision was included in the massive tax bill that phases out the open-all or similar features at the end of 2024 and immediately prohibits any new games from being rolled out. Sounds and animated characters add to the excitement of the open-all feature and players can win bonus rounds. The user hits one button and rows of pull tabs open. The court said an 'open-all' function on the electronic iPads in bars mimics slot machines. They generate more than $2 billion in revenue a year, surpassing paper pull tabs, paying off the stadium early and filling state tax coffers with money.īut the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community sued, saying the electronic games mimic the slot machines in tribal casinos, something they said violates the gaming agreements between the tribes and the state.Īn administrative law judge initially ruled the games didn't violate the agreement.īut the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled recently that the games were a violation of the agreement, siding with the tribes. What am I going to do - lay them off and try to hire people back at minimum wage?'Įlectronic pull tabs were legalized in 2012 as a way to pay for part of the Vikings stadium. He said he makes sure that the added revenue the bar takes in because customers come in to do pull tabs is shared with his employees, allowing him to pay them far above the minimum wage that many servers and bartenders in the industry make. McMillen said if his business is reduced by as much as he expects when the law kicks in late next year, it will not just hurt his income but his employees' wages as well. 'My small business, since I've owned it since 2001, I've donated just short of $800,000.' He said a majority of that charitable gambling money from his bar was generated by electronic pull tabs rather than paper tabs.

Pull tab gambling sets