March 2, 2003
Wisconsin Governor Turns To Tribal Gambling for Budget Fix
Joanne M. Haas
Correspondent

Madison, Wisconsin (CNSNews.com) - Republican legislative leaders, angered by what they call secretly negotiated deals that significantly expand tribal gaming, spent the weekend working the phones and counting votes, hoping to stop the plan to expand gambling in Wisconsin.

They are trying to gather enough support to override Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle's veto of a bill requiring legislative oversight of gaming deals intended to help plug the state's $3.2 billion deficit.

"The Legislature has tried to hold out the olive branch to Gov. Doyle a number of times. Each time the branch is extended, however, it is returned to us as kindling," said Senate Majority Leader Mary Panzer, a Republican from southeastern Wisconsin. 

The state Senate will try to override Gov. Doyle's veto on Monday, and if it succeeds, the Assembly will attempt the same thing on Tuesday. 

Doyle, who vetoed the "legislative oversight" bill on Friday, said he is seeking $237 million in revenue from tribal agreements. "Every dollar we collect from the tribes is a dollar that taxpayers won't have to pay...one less dollar we'll have to cut from public schools...or key local services like police and fire protection," he said.

The $237 million from tribal gaming was included in his proposed 2003-05 budget, which aims to fix the multi-billion dollar deficit without tax increases -- a priority that had Republican leaders praising Doyle as a closet Republican until they learned the new governor was deep in negotiations with the tribes to allow more gaming in exchange for bigger payments to the state. 

Wisconsin has 11 tribes, which operate 24 casinos. A report from the non-partisan
Legislative Council shows the tribes were expected to pay $24 million to the state, according to the compact terms. Doyle is seeking an additional $200-million-plus from the tribes.

"Vegas has come to Wisconsin forever," said Sen. Robert Welch, R-Redgranite. He said that expanded gambling will permanently harm the character of the state, which is now known for its rich natural resources, agriculture and recreational areas. 

The Speaker of the Assembly, Republican John Gard, said he understood the pressure to fix the state budget, but added, "You shouldn't sell your soul to fix it."

Former Gov. Tommy G. Thompson, a Republican who now serves as the nation's health secretary, also vetoed a "legislative oversight" bill in 1999 when Doyle was attorney general. Doyle at the time was on record as supporting legislative oversight of Indian gaming compacts. 

For example, in a November 2000 letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs' assistant secretary, Doyle expressed his shock over Thompson's agreement with the Menomonee tribe to run a casino and dog track in southeastern Wisconsin. 

"I was further surprised to learn that, again without any public disclosure, you approved this agreement on October 4...It should not be resolved without a public airing," Doyle wrote to the federal agency. 

"Secrecy, particularly as it pertains to gambling, breeds suspicion. I ask that you reconsider your approval so that there can be public input into this decision which will deeply affect the citizens of this state," Doyle wrote.

When reminded of this letter and other interviews in which he stated the need for the public input in gaming agreements, Doyle admits he has changed his mind now that he is governor. 

"I do see this issue from different side now that I'm governor," he said. "I don't know how you could negotiate all the complexities of the compacts with all 132 legislators and the governor."

More than 30 legislators have signed a letter, dated March 4 and addressed to President Bush, asking him to order the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs to reject the Wisconsin tribal agreements negotiated with Doyle, who is authorized by state law to negotiate with the tribes. 

At issue is the perpetuity clause contained in the signed agreement between the state and the Forest County Potawatomi Community, and the same clause contained in a tentatively approved agreement with the Oneida Nation. Similar clauses are expected to be included in compacts with the other tribes. All compacts must be approved by the BIA.

"These compacts have a tremendous effect on Wisconsin's communities," the letter to the president reads. "We hope that you will help us prevent Wisconsin and the generations to come from being locked into agreements that ignore the future and changing circumstances."

But this is the point the Potawatomi make. "The benefits of the new compact are clear," the tribe said in a statement after Doyle vetoed the legislative oversight bill. "In the next two years alone, thousands of additional jobs, $84 million in additional state revenue, and tens of millions of construction [will come] from the Potawatomi alone."

The Ho-Chunk Nation urged cooler heads at the state Capitol, warning that continued pressure for legislative oversight may take the state back 15 years. "This will reopen emotional scars from the spear-fishing fight that Wisconsinites of all walks of life have gone a long way towards erasing," the tribe said.

Most of the tribes sought longer compacts, Marotta said, which would allow them to complete economic development projects and do long-range planning.

As explained by the Legislative Council, the amended Potawatomi compact calls for round-the-clock operation of more games. Both the state and the tribe waive their rights to sovereign immunity, and the tribe also would have right to add operations to compete with other casinos within a 75-mile range of the state border. And there are the increased payments to the state.

The Potawatomi compact also grants exclusivity to the tribe, therefore eliminating the possibility that taverns could offer video lottery games as operators have sought for
years with no success. 

As Marotta put it, the exclusivity clause is what the tribes are paying for. Marotta and Doyle also said the agreement allows for regulatory reviews every five years and a review of every aspect every 25 years, trying to quell fears nothing could ever be changed because perpetuity meant forever and ever.

Ed Thompson, a 2002 gubernatorial candidate and brother of Tommy Thompson, attended last week's Capitol informational hearing on the Potawatomi compacts when Marotta was grilled for about two hours by perturbed legislators.

Thompson, a small tavern operator himself, said he was there to learn more than just what he was reading in the newspaper, and was interested in learning for what purpose the tribal payments to the state government would be used. "I just know one thing -- video gambling is essential for the small taverns. They have to have it. There is just no way out of it."

Thompson said if the increase in gaming opportunities for the tribes meant the loss of video gambling for the taverns, many would close. "It will be a double whammy. If you take what we have, then the new jobs that the casinos will be able to offer will be coming from the tavern industry because we will be going out of business."

Thompson agreed that gambling is here to stay, and that the federal government is the top regulator of the tribal gaming industry. Referring to the extraordinary session bill, Thompson said, "More people looking at something is always better." It was a situation he could tolerate when his brother was governor, however.

"Tommy had total control," he said of the gaming compact negotiations and signings. He then smiled and added with a laugh: "And it was a good deal then."

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which also cited BIA records, legal gambling on Indian tribal lands is authorized in about half of the states.

Twenty-four states and 212 tribes had agreed to 267 compacts as of the year 2000. California has the most state-tribal compacts. 

If the Senate overrides Doyle's veto today, the Assembly will take it up on Tuesday --- which also is the annual lobbying day for the Tavern League of Wisconsin.