Minnesota: Leech Lake Band changes gambling rules, pushing charities out of the equation

Recent changes to charitable gambling on the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe reservation have upset the pulltab basket.

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Nine nonprofits relying on pulltab revenue to fund everything from youth hockey to volunteer fire departments stand to lose tens of thousands of dollars because they may no longer be allowed to operate in bars on the reservation. The band controls all charitable gambling in a new system that allows bars to offer gambling, pushing charities out of the equation.

Under the state’s system, nonprofits must conduct all charitable gambling, paying the bar 20% and a sliding scale to the state up to 35%. Under the band’s ordinance, bars keep up to 35% and the band gets no less than 60%. The state gets nothing — neither do charities.