"Then there is the method Pawlenty approves of for raising revenue: a casino, run jointly by the state and several Indian tribes.

The governor counted on that casino for $200 million in his budget. But the money looks like it'll have to be cut or else raised in a more old-fashioned way, because the proposal lacked the votes even to make it out of a Republican-controlled House committee.

Good. Pawlenty never should have tried to open a casino without voters' approval in the first place. As opposed to raising the gas tax, a state-run casino very clearly is a constitutional issue - so sayeth the Minnesota Constitution, which forbids gambling except in certain circumstances. And the Minnesota Attorney General's office has declared that those circumstances (such as bingo and the lottery) don't include a casino.

Besides, running a casino is such a huge change for Minnesota that Minnesotans ought to be able to vote on it."

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OUR OPINION : Pawlenty's mixed-up priorities (The Grand Forks Herald 5/20)