"The office of [Minnesota] Attorney General Mike Hatch gave casino-gambling proposals a dousing Wednesday that one prominent legislator described as the equivalent of '10 gallons of cold water.'

In Chief Deputy Kristine Eiden's advisory opinion, she found that the casino Gov. Tim Pawlenty proposes the state operate in partnership with three northern Ojibwe tribes would not meet state constitutional muster.

That would mean a delay until the 2006 general election -- and that would mean building a 2006-07 state budget without the $200 million licensing fee for a state/tribal casino that's built into Pawlenty's budget.

Delay would not be welcome news to the three tribes, which have been waiting for decades for the economic hope that a metro-area casino would provide. But those tribes would be at considerable financial risk if their casino were found to be unconstitutional during or after its construction. It's in their best interests, as well as Minnesota's, that the Constitution be satisfied."

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Editorial: Legal dousing/Casino must satisfy Constitution (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 3/31)
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