Gambling Control Board hears industry update, approves routine transfers and licensing items

The Gambling Control Board met in Roseville and on the record received an industry and budget update from Director Wade, heard a report from the Compliance Review Group, and approved a series of routine exhibits including transfers of gambling funds, property and capital expenditures, contributions between licensed organizations, a fund-loss request and license termination plans.

Director Wade said March total gross receipts for charitable gambling were $432,000,000, a 4.6% decline from the previous year, and that electronic pull-tab receipts for March were down about 16% while paper pull-tab receipts were up about 10%. He said April electronic pull-tab receipts were down 13.9%.

“The year to date gross receipts for FY '25, which is the 9 month period from July 2024 through March 2025, totaled 3,670,000,000.00, which is almost identical to last year's gross receipts for that same time period,” Wade said. He also told the board the drop in electronic pull-tab receipts through March was largely offset by a 2.6% increase in paper pull-tab receipts.

Wade reported staffing additions: a licensing specialist who started April 23 and two compliance specialists scheduled to start the Wednesday following the meeting; he said those positions are in the Roseville office. On budgeting, Wade said the agency is running under budget year to date (about 12% under) and plans to apply to move unencumbered FY25 funds into an "Odysee" account managed by MNIT to carry forward money for an IT licensing-database upgrade, subject to approval by the Legislative Advisory Council.

Wade also reported on the state legislative calendar: a special session had begun and, he said, "we are getting what we asked out of the budget bill, which is 6,334,000 each year of the biennium." He said he was not seeing other movement on bills that would affect charitable gambling.

Selimie, reporting for the Compliance Review Group (CRG), said the committee has handled 18 organizations to date and had two organizations scheduled for the day’s review. Selimie reminded licensees that the board is available as a resource and that many CRG visits could be avoided with earlier or clearer communication with board staff. “The Gambling Control Board is here as a resource organizations, and they should be utilizing that resource,” Selimie said.

Board members asked procedural and auditing questions on multiple exhibits. One member noted frequent 30-day vendor quotes and suggested considering longer validity windows where feasible; staff noted delegated authority exists for the executive director to approve time‑sensitive purchases between meetings. For an equipment approval involving the Baxter Snowmobile Club (Brainerd), Enforcement Investigation Manager Brett McKeever explained the earlier approval had fallen through and that staff would note the first approval as superseded when the new request was granted. “We'll just make a note of it that that that first approval was just usurps that 1,” McKeever said.

The board moved through a consent-style series of exhibits with motions and seconds and voice votes. Items approved included transfer of gambling funds to an organization account; property and capital asset expenditures; an exclusively used LPE equipment request; contributions of gambling funds from one licensed organization to another (ten individual contribution items were noted); a fund-loss request; license termination plans; and the manufacturer's games submissions. The board also approved the meeting agenda and the minutes from the April 21, 2025 meeting.

Votes at a glance - Motion to approve agenda as published — approved (voice vote). - Motion to approve minutes from April 21, 2025 — approved (voice vote). - Exhibit A: Transfer of gambling funds to an organization account — approved (voice vote). - Exhibit C: Property and capital asset expenditure requests — approved (voice vote). - Exhibit I: Exclusively used LPE (equipment) requests — approved (voice vote); staff noted some approvals may supersede earlier approvals if prior deals fell through. - Exhibit K: Contributions of gambling funds to other licensed organizations — approved (ten items; voice votes). - Exhibit M: Fund-loss request — approved (voice vote). - Exhibit Q: License termination plans — approved (voice vote). - Exhibit S: Manufacturer games approvals — approved (voice vote).

No public comments were recorded on the transcript. The board set its next meeting for Monday, June 16 at 10:00 a.m. at the Gambling Control Board office in Roseville.

The meeting’s discussion was procedural and routine; no new regulatory changes or contested disciplinary decisions appeared on the record during this session.