It was big news right after the election when Republicans objected to DFL House Minority Leader Matt Entenza's contributions to a 527 group. The GOP filed formal complaints with the Campaign Finance and Disclosure Board about how the money had been used. Now the news is the complaints have been dissmissed. MPR's Laura McCallum has the story:

During the campaign, Entenza gave $300,000 to Washington, D.C.-based 21st Century Democrats. The group is one of the many independent campaign groups known as a 527 organization, after the section of the tax code that regulates how they operate. 21st Century Democrats spent more than $200,000 in Minnesota on voter turnout and field workers to help House DFL candidates. House Democrats picked up 13 seats in the election and came close to gaining the majority.

Republicans questioned whether Entenza illegally earmarked his donation to help House candidates, or whether 21st Century Democrats exceeded spending limits in individual races. The state campaign finance board says it found no probable cause that either Entenza or 21st Century Democrats violated the law. Entenza says he's not surprised, because he felt the complaint was nothing but politics.

"The Republicans were reeling, they lost 14 incumbents, they wanted to blame somebody and they decided, let's smear the leader of the opposition, and now the nonpartisan campaign finance board has said everything is dismissed and it's ridiculous."

21st Century Democrats said in a statement that the organization is pleased that the Republican complaint was dismissed, and that it believed all along that the complaint was meritless.

The Republican Party was not pleased by the board ruling. Party spokesman Randy Wanke says it sets a bad precedent for the growing number of 527s, which can raise unlimited amounts of money.

"We believe that the ruling today actually kind of throws open the door to 527s to a greater degree, because what it's going to allow them to do, it's going to allow them, as the 21st Century Democrats did, is to just basically provide staff and resources directly to candidates."

The debate over 527s is far from over. The Republicans say they'll continue to pursue a complaint filed with the Federal Elections Commission. But the more likely consequence is that both parties will use 527s as much as they can in the next election cycle.

Lots more news about Gov. Tim Pawlenty's casino plan. MPR's Tom Robertson was at the White Earth Indian Reservation Thursday and here's part of what he reported:

Officials at White Earth project a Twin Cities casino would infuse between $30 and $50 million annually into the White Earth economy. The money would be targeted for economic development, jobs, housing, land acquisition and education.

Still, not all White Earth band members are comfortable with the idea.

"The people of White Earth here that I represent have a lot of questions that haven't been answered," says Tony Wadena, a member of the White Earth Tribal Council. Wadena has been the lone voice of dissent on the council.

Wadena says many of his constituents don't trust Gov. Pawlenty or the state of Minnesota. They question how a deal with the state would affect the band's sovereignty.

"There's questions about going in with the state like this and what it's going to do for Indians across the country, not just White Earth or Red Lake or Leech, but all Indian people," according to Wadena.

And there are concerns about the governor's not-yet-released plan at the Capitol. The Star Tribune reports that the troops aren't exactly lining up behind the governor:

House Republicans have voted for a racino before, and House Majority Leader Erik Paulsen, R-Eden Prairie, said many of them prefer to keep gambling at existing venues. "Possibly we'll have a melding of the racino and the governor's proposal," he said.

Canterbury has offered to pay $100 million a year to the state in return for slots. That's as much as Pawlenty initially had planned to get from a metro casino when he proposed it as part of his budget last month. Doubling the amount of money to the state available for schools, health care and other necessities might prove irresistible to legislators in the end, Sviggum said.

"These could be very lucrative investments, and the state needs to be in on them," Sviggum said.

Opposition has been much fiercer in the DFL-controlled Senate, with most DFLers opposing any gambling expansion, while Republicans have been receptive mostly to the racino.

Senate Minority Leader Dick Day, R-Owatonna, an impassioned advocate of the racino for the past seven years, said Thursday that he is "irritated" that Pawlenty continues to pursue a deal with the Indian bands.

"This all seems so convoluted," Day said of the Pawlenty proposal, which would have the three bands operate a casino through the Minnesota State Lottery. "Why don't we just give the Native Americans $30 [million] to $50 million a year if that's what they want?"

Day said support for a separate Indian casino in the metro area was so limited that "I can't think of more than three or four in my caucus who would support it. I think the governor is really wrong on this. Will I be talking up the governor's plan? No way."

House Minority Leader Matt Entenza, DFL-St. Paul, said Pawlenty keeps shifting his position on gambling. "First he said this was about a fairer deal for the state. Then he said it was about a fairer deal for the northern tribes. At the end of the day, it's really all about him. His political career here will be in jeopardy if the schools don't get more money, and his national ambitions will be in jeopardy if he breaks his [no-tax] pledge to the Taxpayers League. That's why this deal is in front of us."

Remember, when the governor announces a plan with the three northern tribes next week, that's the easy part.

And what's this about the governor hobnobbing with Hollywood stars? It's true (as Paul Harvey would say). The governor is headed to the Iron Range to visit the set of a movie being shot there. In the Star Tribune Deborah Caulfield Rybak uses the visit to look at the cut in the state program to attract film projects here:

Minnesota was once a leader in offering incentives to filmmakers through its innovative "Snowbate" program, which gave filmmakers a partial rebate on money spent in the state. But that $480,000-a-year program was cut from the state budget in 2003. Now, with more than half the states in the country offering similar or more substantial programs, Minnesota is bringing up the rear.

"We're in terrible shape," said Craig Rice, former executive director of the Minnesota Film and TV Board.

With Gov. Tim Pawlenty scheduled to visit the film's set today, Rice and others hope that encounter may get the ball rolling on a plan to reintroduce incentives.

To date, Pawlenty's interest in the program has been minimal. "It's a matter of priorities," spokesman Brian McClung said. "We think most taxpayers would prefer their dollars be spent on additional teachers instead of tax incentives for TV and film production companies."

Rice argues that "the Film Board is an economic-development organization, not an arts one," and that the state's past investment has been repaid many times over, both in taxes and spending in Minnesota communities.

Well, sweetheart, we'll always have Eveleth.