House committee advances bill to restore e-pull-tab features after months of debate over tribal agreements and charity revenue

House File 733, which would reinstate certain electronic pull-tab (e-pull-tab or e-tab) features removed by the Legislature in 2023, drew sharply divided testimony Wednesday in the House Veterans and Military Affairs Division and was re-referred to the Commerce Finance and Policy Committee by a 6–5 roll call vote.

The bill’s author said the measure is intended to “rewrite a wrong” created in 2023 and to restore game features that charities use to raise revenue for local veterans programs, youth sports and other community services. The author added that the 2023 changes have “hurt our charities” and isolated veterans who rely on services funded by charitable gambling.

Supporters, including Allied Charities of Minnesota and local American Legion posts, told the committee that many nonprofits have seen rapid declines in gambling revenue since the January implementation of the 2023 restrictions. Rachel Jenner, executive director of Allied Charities, said the changes removed features such as “open all, free play and bonus games,” and that “in the first month under these new rules … many organizations [are] down 20 percent or more in their revenue from December to January.” Jenner urged lawmakers to restore…