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“It could affect services for tens of thousands of people, to be honest,” Jorgensen said.

The gaming association, which represents nearly 350 licensed organizations, operating 900 gaming sites statewide, voted unanimously last week to oppose the plan, which requires the Legislature to approve it and a statewide public vote next year.

The head of a nonprofit that’s taken in the most money from charitable gaming in the state for at least the last decade thinks it has a lot to lose.

The North Dakota Association for the Disabled operates 10 gaming sites in Fargo, Grand Forks, Bismarck and Minot.

CEO Don Santer said the organization relies on gaming for about 75 percent of its budget. He thinks charities stand to lose as much as 25 percent of their gaming funds to state-owned casinos, if approved.

“We’re scrambling to get up to speed on what’s going on with this,” Santer said.

House Majority Leader Al Carlson, R-Fargo, is the primary sponsor of House Concurrent Resolution 3033, which would ask voters whether to amend the state Constitution to allow the Legislature to authorize casinos. The question would go to voters in the 2018 primary election.

Currently, casinos are allowed only on tribal land in the state through federal law.

The resolution, first announced publicly March 1, will get a hearing Monday, March 13, before the House Judiciary Committee at the Capitol in Bismarck.

The proposal is seen as a way to boost the state’s bottom line. State revenue is down, mostly due to sagging oil and agriculture economies.

Carlson wants to see net proceeds from state-run casinos go into the state’s general fund, with 30 percent earmarked for behavioral health and addiction treatment and 70 percent for tax relief.

The state-run casinos would be destination-oriented and focused on rural economic development. For example, Carlson said, one casino could be built at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center at Washburn. He doesn’t think they would have much impact on charitable gaming.

“We still think people will go to local bars and buy their pull tabs,” Carlson said.

However, the nonprofits still fear a large casino could be built right outside of Fargo. As written, the resolution would allow a state-run casino as close as five miles from the boundary of any city of more than 5,000 people.

Nate Medhus, president and CEO of ShareHouse, an addiction treatment center based in Fargo, said it receives $400,000 in net income annually from charitable gaming. He said the closer the casino is, the larger the impact.

“Fifty miles outside of Fargo is one thing,” Medhus said. “If it was in town, it would be catastrophic for a lot of nonprofits.”

Santer also worries about a section of the resolution that states “the legislative assembly may provide by law for smoking and service of alcoholic beverages in parts of the casino facility.”

He said charitable gaming sites would definitely lose business to any casino where patrons were allowed to smoke, just a few miles outside the city.

When asked about the possibility of smoking at state-run casinos, Carlson said “it’s an option.”

The charitable gaming association may hire a lobbyist to make its case at the Capitol, and at the very least, Jorgensen will testify against the resolution when he gets the opportunity, he said.

Native American communities are concerned about the impact state-run casinos could have on a key source of tribal revenue.

Rep. Marvin Nelson, D-Rolla, said they could take customers from the reservation casinos. His district includes the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indian Reservation, which has the Sky Dancer Casino.

Under the resolution, a state-run casino also couldn’t be within 20 miles of a Native American reservation boundary.

Charitable gaming has brought in big dollars to nonprofits in North Dakota over the years. According to the state Attorney General’s website, licensed gaming organizations raised more than $43 million for charities during the 2013-2015 biennium.

For the year ending in June 2016, charitable gaming in North Dakota collected adjusted gross proceeds of a little more than $57 million. That represents the amounts wagered, minus the prizes awarded but not gaming taxes

For the three-month quarter ending in September 2016, two Fargo-based charities were among the top three in the state in total adjusted gross proceeds, which is the wagers minus what’s won and gaming taxes. It doesn’t include gaming expenses, though nonprofits are required to put at least 40 percent of their total adjusted gross proceeds toward programming.

Prairie Public Broadcasting, based in Fargo with stations across the state, collected $479,251 in total adjusted gross proceeds, ranking second. Fargo’s Plains Art Museum ranked third with $473,914.

The top charity in the state for the quarter was North Dakota Association for the Disabled, based in Grand Forks, with $877,167.

At ShareHouse, Medhus said they’d operate at a loss without charitable gaming, forcing cuts in programs and staff.

“That money is definitely very much needed,” Medhus said.