April 2, 2003
Doyle overstepped power, leaders say
By DENNIS CHAPTMAN
Milwaukee Journal Sentinal

Madison - Amid accusations that they are trying to blow a $237 million hole in Gov. Jim Doyle's proposed budget, Republican legislative leaders decided Tuesday to ask the state Supreme Court to void Doyle's gambling deal with the Forest County Potawatomi tribe.

GOP leaders also plan to ask the high court - as early as today - to block the Democratic governor from entering into other gambling compacts until the constitutionality of the deal is determined.

"We tried, and the governor refused, to work toward common ground. Unfortunately, this is the last option open to us," said Assembly Speaker John Gard (R-Peshtigo). "This power grab is so offensive and has the potential to do damage to the people of the state for a long time to come."

But Doyle said Republicans need to get on with the task of bridging the state's $3.2 billion budget deficit.

"It is unfortunate that the legislative leadership has chosen to play political games instead," Doyle said in a statement. "Republican leadership having the state sue the state sounds like an April Fool's joke."

Doyle spokesman Steve Bella said the administration believes the compact is legal and constitutional, and challenged Republicans to say how they would raise the money or cut services to keep the budget in balance.

"The fun and games are over," Bella said. "At some point, they are going to have to face the fiscal responsibility of balancing the budget."

Panzer: Out of options
Senate Majority Leader Mary Panzer (R-West Bend) noted that Doyle twice vetoed bills that would have required legislative approval of compacts brokered by the governor, who now has final authority to approve the deals.

"The only remedy left is to look to the courts," she said. "We believe there are significant constitutional issues that go to the heart of separation of powers and the Legislature's ability to carry out its constitutional powers."

Panzer insisted that Republicans could "handle" finding the $237 million that would be needed to balance the budget, if the court strikes down the gaming deals. But no Republican specified where the money was coming from.

"Then handle it," Bella replied. "Panzer is just dismissing it out of hand. Put your cards on the table."

Democratic legislators balked at the lawsuit - approved Tuesday on a 6-4 party-line vote by the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization - saying it was an unwise use of taxpayer money.

GOP legislative leaders approved spending up to $62,500 in legal fees and retaining Gordon Baldwin, a retired University of Wisconsin-Madison law professor and constitutional scholar, to argue their case.

"We're going to spend $62,500 to try to take $237 million out of the state budget?" asked Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser (D-Kenosha). "And we'll call that a victory?"

Senate Minority Leader Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) said the lawsuit would deepen the divide between the Legislature and the Doyle administration.

"To call this a step backwards when we're facing a $3.2 billion budget deficit is an incredible understatement," Erpenbach said.

Gard makes his case
Gard said the case is based partly on a memo issued last week by the non-partisan Legislative Council that found the Potawatomi deal might run afoul of the constitution because it:

Broadens the scope of gambling. 
Appropriates money that can be spent only by the Legislature. 
Pre-empts the Legislature's right to decide who can get sued over the deals. 
Allows Doyle to exercise power reserved for lawmakers. 
But Democrats also cited a line from the memo that states that since no state appeals court had addressed the issues, "it is impossible to predict with certainty the outcome of any lawsuit."

The Supreme Court is not obligated to hear the case directly, and if its refuses, Gard said, Republicans would pursue the case at the trial court level.

Playing politics?
Tom Krajewski, spokesman for the Forest County Potawatomi, said Republicans were stung by Doyle's ability to craft the deal, which will contribute $84 million of $237 million in tribal gambling revenue that the Doyle administration is counting on to balance the budget.

"He pulled a rabbit out of a hat, and that made them angry," Krajewski said. "Republicans are in one of those stages you go through when you get bad news: shock, denial, anger and revenge."

Krajewski noted that while Republicans are willing to shoot down Doyle's deals, they offered no suggestions for how to replace the tribal gambling money.

"To put it in perspective, it would require a 25 percent increase in the corporate income tax," he said.

And he cited a 1991 decision by U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb that requires the state to negotiate with tribes on gambling, and a state law that specifically empowers Doyle to enter into the deals.

Baldwin, the constitutional scholar, however, said the challenge stands a good chance of being successful.

"We believe there is an extremely strong argument to be made that the executive branch has overstepped its authority," Baldwin said. "We believe that this controversy represents a fundamental constitutional question that the Legislature has an obligation to see clarified."

A version of this story appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on April 2, 2003.