Fresh from his decisive re-election on November 4, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said he was planning to meet with his staff for an update about the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin’s proposed casino at the former Dairyland Greyhound Park in Kenosha. Walker said he expects to use up every moment until the February 19, 2015 deadline for deciding whether or not to allow the 0 million casino. “We’ll use the full legal process available to us,” Walker said.
Recently officials from both the Menominee Tribe as well as the Forest County Potawatomi Tribe, who strongly oppose the casino, said they believe Walker will support their position. Menominee Tribal Chairwoman Laurie Boivin said, “We just struggle with even providing the basic services for our people. Menominee County has the highest percentage of children in poverty, teen birth rate, single parent households and unemployment rate in the state. The county also ranks last in overall health. Boivin said the Kenosha casino would “basically give us the opportunity to help raise our people out of poverty.”
The Potawatomi tribe owns and operates the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino in Milwaukee and believes the Kenosha operation would affect its profits.
Over the past two decades the casino has tremendously benefited the tribe and the community, employing more than 600 people. But Potawatomi officials said the Kenosha casino would lead to the loss of 150 jobs. Joshua Jameson of the Forest County Chamber of Commerce said Forest County has the state’s 12th highest unemployment rate and ranks near the bottom in terms of overall health. “People struggle, and we’re still struggling. If those 150 casino jobs are gone, with 11 to 15 percent unemployment rate in our county, what’s going to happen? It scares us.”
The U.S. Department of Interior approved the Menominee’s request for an off-reservation casino in August 2013, then gave Walker one year for his approval and later granted Walker’s request for a six-month extension. He appointed state Department of Administration secretary Mike Huebsch to research the impact of the Menominee casino.
This summer Walker said he hopes to find a way to reach an agreement that would allow a Kenosha casino to operate along with the existing casinos. He stated one of his main concerns is the risk of losing revenue-sharing payments to the state from the Potawatomi Tribe, which recently has withheld payments because they fear the state will owe them money if the Kenosha casino is approved. Under the state gaming compact negotiated by former Governor Jim Doyle, the state is required to offset losses in revenue due to new gaming operations.
Walker said, “I had Secretary Huebsch personally get engaged with each of the tribal governments. Obviously the biggest obstacle to this is the Potawatomi because of their compact. It could be about $100 million or more and that’s a real concern for us.”
