Wisc. governor, lawmakers fighting over tribal compact

J.R. Ross

Friday, Feb. 28, 2003 | 10:37 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. -- Gov. Jim Doyle's top administration official Thursday defended an agreement with the Forest County Potawatomi that would allow the tribe to run its casinos indefinitely, while Republican lawmakers continued to take their shots at what they called a sweetheart deal.

Doyle said he had decided whether to veto a bill lawmakers passed last week to give them final authority over gaming compacts negotiated by the governor. He would not disclose his decision but continued to strongly criticize the bill, which he must act on by Monday.

Doyle, a Democrat, also criticized Republicans, who control the Legislature, for holding a public hearing on gaming compacts Thursday with little notice -- and after they had already passed the bill to give them final say on the compacts.

"Last week they introduce a bill, have it passed the next day, and then after the fact, 'I guess we better have a hearing now,' " Doyle said. "I think it would have been wise for them to have an honest hearing and let everybody be heard before they ever considered their bill."

A joint committee of the Assembly and Senate heard testimony Thursday that focused on the amended gaming compact with the Forest County Potawatomi that Administration Secretary Marc Marotta announced Monday.

Current gaming compacts expire after five years. But the new deal with the Potawatomi would have no expiration date and would allow more games while lifting limits on the number of slot machines the tribe operates at facilities in Carter and Milwaukee.

In exchange, the tribe has agreed to pay the state significantly more money to help balance its $3.2 billion budget deficit.

Marotta defended the perpetuity of the compact in one exchange with Sen. Robert Welch, R-Redgranite, who accused the Doyle administration of surrendering the state's ability to adequately oversee American Indian gaming.

"Every other business doesn't have to come back every five years and beg for their existence," Marotta said. "This was an antiquated provision."

Welch replied that other Wisconsin companies don't run casinos and said Doyle was trying to "cut the Legislature out completely" of the negotiating process.

No tribal leaders testified before the joint committee Thursday, and several complained to the committee in writing about the short notice they were given.

Ho-Chunk Nation executive administrative officer Greg Garvin wrote that the hearing, announced Wednesday, "lacks the respect and fair treatment we seek to extend to you." Garvin wrote that President Troy Swallow's mother had died and he was unable to attend.

Sen. Ron Brown, R-Eau Claire, apologized for the hastily called meeting but said lawmakers had no choice because they could not risk Doyle signing any more compacts without a public airing of the details.

"Calling this hearing this week was like stepping in front of a locomotive going full speed down the track, but we needed to know more about the cargo on board," he said.

Marotta said he hoped to sign additional compacts soon but said none had been finalized and he did not anticipate reaching any new deals before Monday's deadline for Doyle to act on the bill.

The Legislature granted the governor sole authority to approve gaming compacts in the late 1980s. Lawmakers tried to again give themselves final say in the compacts in the budget they passed in 1999, but then-Gov. Tommy Thompson vetoed the provision.

At a meeting in Green Bay Thursday morning, officials with the Oneida Nation urged Doyle to veto the bill lawmakers passed last week.

The tribe announced last week it had reached a tentative deal with Doyle on an amended compact similar to the one the governor has signed with the Potawatomi.

Oneida chairwoman Cristina Danforth said the bill was a political power struggle between the Republican-controlled Legislature and the Democratic governor. She said GOP legislators never pushed for such oversight when Thompson, a Republican, was governor.

"It hasn't been an issue in the past. Why is it an issue now?" she asked.

Ho-Chunk spokesman Mark Butterfield said the nation was close to an agreement with the state, but "now the Legislature wants to second-guess everything."

"It clouds the future of our business. It makes things unmanageable," he said.

Welch, who helped lead the charge to pass last week's oversight bill, said lawmakers were spurred to action because the agreements Doyle had reached so far took away the state's ability to adequately regulate the casinos and shut them down some day if it so choose.

"Five years versus forever is a big, big deal," Welch said.

Welch also continued to criticize Doyle over the $700,000 the Ho-Chunk, Oneida and Potawatomi tribes gave the national Democratic Party shortly before the November election. The party sent the state party $1 million the week before the election, much of it to help Doyle's campaign.

Welch said the donation "smelled" and gave the impression Doyle was repaying the tribes with the indefinite compacts.

The Ho-Chunk Nation Thursday released a previously confidential questionnaire it sent to Doyle and his opponent, former Republic Gov. Scott McCallum, asking for their views on tribal concerns.

The tribe said it released the documents to dispute a claim by McCallum's former campaign manager that it agreed to make the donation to whichever gubernatorial candidate agreed to allow the Ho-Chunk to run its casinos in perpetuity.

The survey asked each candidate whether they would be open to compacts in perpetuity if the state could reopen negotiations every 10 years. McCallum answered "all issues regarding Indian gaming are negotiable" and Doyle wrote that he favored compacts with an indefinite term. Both surveys were dated in early October.

Reached at home by the Associated Press, McCallum said perpetual compacts were something he would not have negotiated but declined to answer other questions about the survey.