Temporary changes made to some gambling control laws

Chartered veterans and certain fraternal organizations may grant short-term loans to their parent organizations under one provision of a new law.

Sponsored by Rep. John Huot (DFL-Rosemount) and Sen. Mark Koran (R-North Branch), the law makes temporary adjustments to the state’s gambling control laws in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is mostly effective June 24, 2020 and will expire the day that the governor's emergency executive authority has expired, is terminated or rescinded.

The adjustments include:

• requiring organizations regulated by the Gambling Control Board that submit an audit to the Department of Revenue, to also submit an electronic copy to the board;

• allowing individual groups that have filed for a one-time gambling permit, but have subsequently had to cancel the event due to the peacetime emergency declared by Gov. Tim Walz, to either apply to get its money back or extend the permit up to 400 days from the original date;

• extending the 90-day training requirement for gambling managers by an additional 60 days beyond the expiration of the peacetime emergency;

• effective retroactively from March 17, 2020, temporarily suspending the requirement, during the peacetime emergency, that organizations which buy gambling equipment and games to pay for them within 30 days of the purchase; and

• extending the renewal deadline for certain gambling licenses by 60 days from the end of the peacetime emergency. This applies only to licenses that were effective April 1, 2020.

An emergency expenditure provision allows some entities to loan themselves money from their charitable gambling funds for emergency expenditures needed to reopen the organization’s primary headquarters. If the entity loans itself money, it must repay that money within one year. In addition, that entity must also suspend the operation of lawful gambling one year from the loan date until such time as the entire amount has been repaid to the gambling fund.

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