Secretary: New casinos ‘years’ away

JR Ross

Friday, Dec. 8, 2000 | 8:55 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. - A new off-reservation casino in Wisconsin is still years away, a top state official said Thursday in a very public attempt to dispel the notion a new gaming facility in the state is imminent.

Department of Administration Secretary George Lightbourn said he wanted to quell the notion that a new casino would be approved soon.

"There's a sense that something's going to happen soon and that somehow we're going to have all these large casinos at the state's border," Lightbourn said, adding that "the intent of the release was to indicate that that's not likely to happen, and if it does happen it's not likely anytime soon."

Last month, Gov. Tommy Thompson and the Menominee Indians reached an agreement for a proposed Kenosha casino that could house as many as 4,000 slot and video poker machines.

The tribe agreed to pay up to 8 percent of the "net win" at the casino, compared with 3 percent for other Indian casinos, as well as other concessions. But the agreement could allow an expansion of games provided at the casino, though Lightbourn has said the governor won't approve that.

Still, Lightbourn said it could still be years before the casino is opened at the Dairyland Greyhound Park.

The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs still would have to OK the tribe's application, and Lightbourn said there is no timetable for the state to approve the proposal after the BIA is done with it.

Several of the state's Chippewa bands have also been negotiating with local and county governments in recent months over possible casino developments.

Lightbourn said the administration's agreement with the Menominee tribe helped fuel speculation that an expansion of gaming was imminent, and the administration should have waited until after the BIA approved the proposal to begin negotiations.

"We did sign it, and we will stand by it," he said. "But in the future, we will wait until the end of the process."

Telephone calls to the Menominee Tribe were not returned Thursday night.

Duane Anderson, state chairman of the Wisconsin Coalition Against Gambling Expansion, said he viewed the secretary's comments as backpedaling after Thompson was criticized for reaching a compact with the Menominee before the federal government had approved the casino.

Anderson said he was skeptical that the policy was new or that it would make any difference in whether casinos are approved in Wisconsin.

"What I see here is that Governor Thompson has got his hand caught in the cookie jar and he got caught in a firestorm," Anderson said. "I just think this is posturing. I just think that he's trying to put a fig leaf out there because of the criticism."

But Lightbourn said once the Kenosha proposal is approved by the BIA, the state won't give its approval until all of its concerns are satisfied, regardless of how long it delays the project.

"We really don't care when they want to open it," Lightbourn said. "We won't agree to it until we're satisfied that all of our terms have been met, including the background investigation."