Gaming briefs for May 19, 2004

Wednesday, May 19, 2004 | 9:05 a.m.

CSFB upgrades firm

Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Scott Barry has upgraded Mandalay Resort Group to "outperform" from "neutral," saying shares are trading lower than their 52-week high and the Las Vegas market continues to show momentum in tourist and convention visitation.

Healthy convention business and a strong dollar as well as relatively low airfares are among the factors that bode well for Las Vegas, where Mandalay will generate about 76 percent of its 2005 cash flow, Barry wrote in a research note Monday.

Legislature weighs new bill

MADISON, Wis. -- Spurred by a state Supreme Court decision, Republican lawmakers proposed for a third time Tuesday to give the Legislature final say over gaming compacts the governor signs with Wisconsin's Indian tribes.

Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, said the Assembly would take up the measure today. The bill is the latest volley in an ongoing fight between Republicans and Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle over the compacts.

Lawmakers have twice passed bills to give them oversight of the compacts in 2003, but Doyle vetoed them both.

Last week the state Supreme Court nullified key components of the state's gaming compact with the Forest County Potawatomi in its ruling on a lawsuit brought by Gard and Senate Majority Leader Mary Panzer, R-West Bend.

The court said Doyle overstepped his authority by agreeing to let the Potawatomi and nine other tribes offer Las Vegas-style games such as craps and roulette at their casinos. The new compacts also had no expiration dates, unlike past compacts that needed renewal. The first round of compacts ran for seven years and the next for five.

The bill introduced Tuesday would require the governor to submit any proposed compact to the Legislature.