Report: If no deal soon, state to enter arbitration with tribes

Monday, June 13, 2005 | 9:21 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. -- If the state has not reached new gaming compacts with the state's two highest-grossing American Indian tribes by the end of the month, the governor's top aid said he would likely bring in an arbitrator, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The Forest County Potawatomi and the Ho-Chunk Nation compacts were thrown into disarray last year when the state Supreme Court ruled Gov. Jim Doyle overstepped his authority by signing the Potawatomi agreement because it had no set expiration date and allowed new games, such as craps and roulette. The state and tribes have been negotiating new deals ever since.

Administration Secretary Marc Marotta told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he would likely ask an arbitrator to settle the matter if the state has not reached new compacts by the end of the state's fiscal year of June 30.

Marotta is pushing the Potawatomi to make a $43.6 million payment due June 30, even if the state and tribe haven't reached a deal by then. The tribe made its $40.5 million payment last year as a sign that it was engaging in negotiations in good faith.