The talk about proposed cuts to Metro Transit bus service has been going around for a couple days, but the final numbers released Monday were stark. Charles Laszewski, who first wrote about the possible cuts in the Pioneer Press last week, has the latest:

Of the 153 routes Metro Transit runs each weekday, 70 percent would be reduced or canceled outright.

That's 10 percent of the hours the buses run annually. Combined with a proposed 25-cent rate hike on nearly all fares, the bus system is taking a tremendous hit, on top of other recent fare hikes, lesser service cuts and a strike.

Entire routes would be cut in Circle Pines, Arden Hills, Mendota Heights, Woodbury and Orono. What's behind the latest proposed cutbacks? Laszewski cites Metro Transit G.M. Brian Lamb and Barbara Thoman, who advocates for mass transit:

Lamb, Thoman and Metropolitan Council members blamed the Gov. Jesse Ventura-initiated switch from financing the bus system through the relatively stable property tax to the more volatile motor vehicle sales tax. That tax is projected to bring in nearly $30 million less in the next two years than originally expected, or about half of the hole the council is trying to plug.

Lamb knocks down a theory proposed by David Strom of the Taxpayer's League that light rail transit is causing financial problems for the bus system. MPR's Dan Olson had some legislative response to the bus service's woes:

Rep. Mary Liz Holberg, R-Lakeville chairs the House Transportation Finance Committee. She said she's disappointed the governor didn't do a better job of predicting the transit funding problem. Holberg says finding $60 million with a projected $466 million state budget shortfall will not be easy. Holberg has invested some personal political capital in backing a proposed rapid bus service on interstate 35W for commuters from southern Twin Cities suburbs.

Senate Transportation committee chairman Steve Murphy, DFL-Red Wing, predicts lawmakers will find a way to fix most of Metro Transit's projected budget shortfall. Murphy says Gov. Pawlenty is to blame for not making transit a higher priority at a time when other cities are investing in bus and rail.

"We continue to fall behind cities like Denver and Phoenix that are making major investments. This administration once again has given transit services the brush off," he said.

The Metropolitan Council will hold a series of public hearings about the proposed cuts and likely make a final decision in May.

Gov. Pawlenty's plan for a new casio has the support of at least 20 members of the Minnesota House. That's how many signed on to the bill that was introduced Monday. In the Pioneer Press Patrick Sweeney quotes House Speaker Steve Sviggum as saying there's still not enough support in the House to pass the bill. And there's another proposal on the table:

In another gambling development, tavern owners have a news conference scheduled for today to promote a rival gambling plan: legislation that would allow bars, restaurants and bowling alleys to put up to five video lottery terminals, similar to slot machines, in any business that serves alcohol.

The slots-in-the-bars legislation would produce far more money for the state than any of the casino plans proposed so far.

You had to wonder when that one would show up. But it turns out the bar owners won't hold that news conference until Wednesday. There's also a hearing on that bill, the governor's plan and the racino in a House committee Wednesday.