On December 15, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin’s Ho-Chunk Nation overturned a previous decision that supported the tribe’s president, Marlon WhiteEagle.
In mid-2020, Ho-Chunk Nation officials passed a 60-day emergency budget that led to layoffs among tribal members and cuts to the president’s office. WhiteEagle filed suit to prohibit tribal officials from making decisions that affected the executive branch.
According to the Green Bay Press-Gazette, a Ho-Chunk Nation court ruled in favor of the president last fall. The recent ruling determined that legislators acted properly and did not infringe on the rights of the president.
“In unprecedented times resulting from the pandemic, passing the 60-day budget was not only prudent, but wise given the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic,” wrote Justice Tricia Zunker in the majority opinion. “The legislature possessed the legal authority to adopt a continuing budget resolution. … Dissatisfaction by a co-equal branch of government as to the unusual budget process utilized during the ongoing pandemic does not render the action unconstitutional.”
“The legislature isn’t just a rubber stamp on whatever the president proposes,” said Rep. Kristin White Eagle, of the legislature’s Finance Committee. “We have a fiduciary duty to ensure that the nation has a financially secure foundation.”
The National Indian Gaming Association projected a loss of about $22.4 billion for tribal casinos across the country last year, roughly half of their projected revenue. Ho-Chunk casinos closed on March 17, 2020 and started to re-open at partial capacity to maintain social distancing at the end of May and June in 2020.
Ernest Stevens Jr., chairman of the National Indian Gaming Association and a citizen of the Oneida Nation, said the financial crisis from the pandemic stressed the need for tribes to diversify their revenue because so much of it is dependent on gaming.
