Though no longer the Senate’s outspoken conservative populist, Dick Day has hardly gone silent.

Under the terms of the deal, Canterbury Park will end its long pursuit of slot machines at the track -- better known as a "racino" -- in exchange for $75 million from the Shakopee tribe over 10 years to fatten its purses. The agreement also includes an extra $8.5 million from the tribe for joint marketing efforts.

The catalyst for a landmark gambling deal cut between horseracing track Canterbury Park and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux tribe was a minor bill that didn’t get a single hearing during the 2012 legislative session.

When the sun rose on Tuesday, April 17, the slow death of the Minnesota Vikings stadium bill appeared complete at last.

The swift pace at which the Minnesota Vikings stadium bill advanced through the House and Senate this week amounted to nothing short of a legislative resurrection.

The perennial bill to install slots in the state’s two racetracks was yanked from its first hearing in the Senate Education Committee amid fear that the committee’s conservative members would kill it early in the session.

After a contentious Senate Finance Committee hearing, the racino proposal is bound for the Senate floor. The proposal to allow slot machines at two horse racing tracks was added to a relatively minor education bill on a bipartisan 10-4 vote.

The proposal failed on an 8-5 vote in the Senate State Government Innovations and Veterans Committee on Monday after adopting multiple amendments.

There was little fanfare when not one but two racino bills surfaced in the Minnesota Legislature last week. The perennial proposal to install slot machines in racetracks usually enters into the political milieu with news conferences and headlines.

With a host of issues like light rail ridership and civic pride on the line, Hennepin County officials are keeping their powder dry in the event that they can find an opening to advance a Minnesota Vikings stadium plan.