The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs recently announced it will take into federal trust a 73-acre parcel in Beloit, Wisconsin for the Ho-Chunk Nation’s proposed $400 million off-reservation casino. Now the final step is Governor Tony Evers’ permission. Evers said he would approve the project during his campaign for governor in 2018. The Ho-Chunk casino resort would provide 1,500 new jobs.
Ho-Chunk President Marlon WhiteEagle said, “The Ho-Chunk Nation’s 1992 gaming compact allows for a fourth gaming facility. The progress on the development of a fourth gaming site is a long time coming. If allowed, it will be a victory due in part to a lot of time, energy, money, hard work and determination of many, some who are no longer with us. Although we are amidst a public health pandemic the project continues to unfold. The real victory will be when the doors open, providing jobs, and seeing the positive economic impact within the local, state and tribal communities.”
Ho-Chunk Vice President Karena Thundercloud agreed the 11-year federal trust approval process has been “long and difficult.” She said, “Our predecessors sought to guarantee our tribe’s economic independence” by starting the process to place land in trust for an off-reservation casino.
Thundercloud noted prior to last month’s shutdown of Wisconsin casinos due to Covid-19, Ho-Chunk casinos were heading toward record high revenues. “Casinos have been the bedrock of tribal economies across the nation. The economy of the Ho-Chunk Nation is no different,” she said.
Beloit City Manager Lori Curtis Luther said the BIA’s approval “is news we have waited many years to receive.” However, she cautioned, “We must remain focused on the current state of emergency. Unequivocally, our highest priority is doing everything we possibly can to keep our staff and the public safe. Once this crisis is over, we look forward to celebrating this amazing announcement that will bring much needed future revenue and jobs to Beloit.”
Before the Covid-19 closures, Ho-Chunk casinos employed more than 3,000 workers. That has been reduced by 60 percent, WhiteEagle said, but “as a temporary layoff, they were able to keep their health benefits.”
Still, WhiteEagle said, the loss of casino revenue–a primary funding source for the entire Ho-Chunk Nation–is having a huge impact. “We have minimal BIA funding and grant funding. Casino revenue gives us a lot of freedom to fund various projects,” WhiteEagle said, including healthcare, scholarships and cultural programs. Regarding the Beloit casinos, he stated, “We’ll have to again strategize about what’s the best way to get the project going again.”
Not everyone is excited about a possible Ho-Chunk casino in Beloit. Citizens Against Expanded Gambling Executive Director Lorri Pickens said she hope Evers does not approve it. She noted the state has 26 casinos, according to Travel Wisconsin. A major concern, she said, is, “There’ll be restaurants, they’ll even have gas stations on there, so people who go to the casino, there’ll be a full service deal, and then they’ll leave and there’ll be no extra money spent in that community.”
Ho-Chunk’s Beloit casino would be located near the Illinois state line, in direct competition with a proposed 65,000 square foot Hard Rock casino in Rockford, made possible by gambling legislation passed last year.
