Claremont gambling fuels area charities

It’s not hard to see what kind of impact charitable gambling administered by the Claremont Area Chamber has on the region.
In 2024, almost 100 organizations throughout Steele and Dodge counties shared just under $224,000, down slightly from the previous year.
But Chamber President Dean Schuette cautions that next year may be an entirely different story. That’s because state law changes for gambling went into effect Jan. 1. And through the end of February, Schuette has noticed gambling has dropped significantly by nearly 25%. If the current trend holds true, Claremont could see a substantial decline of about $2 million by the end of this year.
In 2024, Claremont Chamber reported gambling sales of $8.2 million. The group paid $364,000 in taxes.
Claremont offers gambling at four locations: BP Tavern & Offsale in Blooming Prairie, Claremont Pub, Dodge Center Country Club and Dodge Center Legion.
Organizations like the Claremont Chamber have run into stiff opposition from Indian gaming, which lobbied and convinced state lawmakers to take away “the fun components” as Schuette describes them from charitable gambling. Since Jan. 1, the Bonus Play and One Touch Open All have been stripped away from charitable gambling.
“Those did the most damage to our sales volume,” said Schuette. “The DFL took them out, and unfortunately, it will have a detrimental effect to gaming as a whole.”
Schuette has been fighting the state legislature not only on the local level, but also at the state level. He serves as a director with Allied Charities of Minnesota, which acts as an advocate and resource for licensed charities engaged in lawful gambling.
With Minnesota’s trifecta in place last year with a DFL controlled House, Senate and governor, the charities are stuck with little relief in sight. “The trifecta has made it really tough for us to make any inroads. They are holding the cards,” Schuette said. “It looks like it will have a disastrous effect on us as charities,” he added.
Things were rolling along just fine with electronic pull-tabs when they were legalized to pay for the Vikings stadium in 2012. The state paid off the stadium early within eight years and soon thereafter caved to pressure from the Indian tribes to scale back e-tabs.
The work of Allied Charities seems to be “falling on deaf ears,” Schuette said. “The democratic party is in bed with the tribes,” he said, adding Minnesota’s lieutenant governor is Native American.
Besides advocating to bring back the fun games, Allied Charities is also focused on getting a tax break from lawmakers, according to Schuette. He noted charities pay one of the highest tax rates at 33.5%. “We are still paying the high rate with the money going into a big, black hole called the general budget. It seems ludicrous that we should have to pay tax on something that we are helping to save taxpayer dollars to support these groups,” he said.
Schuette was blunt about the effect the decline in donations could have on local groups.
“They wouldn’t exist without our funding,” he said. “We are the last and only source of revenue for a lot of these groups. We are trying to do the right thing for the right reasons.”
He knows that the current makeup of the legislature is not favorable for them.
“It’s a tough battle to overcome,” he said. “We need more people to beat the drum.”