|
Hello from St. Paul,
The Northstar commuter rail has been a boondoggle since Day 1. Ridership never approached what supporters hoped it would, and for 15 years Minnesota has wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on something that was never truly necessary and now operates with few passengers.
Annually, the Northstar line takes in just more than $300,000 in fares, compared to about $12 million in operating costs. Because ridership is so low, taxpayers are basically paying $115 in subsidies for every passenger that boards.
Now, we may have a way out.
Recently the Minnesota House transportation committee approved a bill that would request federal approval to shut down the Northstar Line. If we do nothing, taxpayers will continue to waste billions of dollars from now until the end of time on a rail line hardly anyone uses.
Even Governor Walz’s transportation commissioner and the Metropolitan Council said recently that Northstar is not cost-effective transit and they are looking into replacing it with bus service.
It’s time to pull the plug.
RESTORE ELECTRONIC PULL TABS TO HELP LOCAL CHARITIES
Changes made to the popular electronic pull tabs are forcing Minnesota’s charities to brace for a massive decline in charitable gaming revenue this year. This is why legislation in the Minnesota House is moving forward that would bring back the original gaming devices.
E-pull tab popularity had been soaring over the past few years. Last year $386 million was generated in net revenue from the gaming devices, and the charitable gaming proceeds from them were distributed to needy organizations in our communities.
In 2023, Governor Walz and legislative Democrats approved a law eliminating the “open all” feature that made the electronic pull-tab games popular. It took a year and a half to implement the new law as e-pull tab technology without the “open all” feature did not exist in the United States.
The watered-down electronic pull tabs became available January 1, and local veterans’ organizations, such as American Legions and VFW’s, have noticed a dramatic drop in activity, ranging from 20% - 44% statewide.
By projecting a decline of 30% this year, those relying on charitable proceeds in Minnesota - EMS groups, food shelves, youth sports teams and associations, Boys and Girl Scouts, and other local charities – could be looking at a $115 million annual loss due to the electronic pull tab change.
If simply restoring the games to their previous format is all that’s needed to turn this problem around, it seems like the common sense thing to do.
|
