Ho-Chunk misses payment, will close table games

La Crosse Tribune, Jun 30, 2004 by Sheehan, Tom

MADISON - Like a highstakes gambler after an upand-down night, the state rolled out of bed $10 million in the hole on tribal gaming payments this morning.

The state looked like a winner early Tuesday as officials accepted a $20 million payment from the Oneida Nation, which runs a casino in Green Bay.

But the luck didn't last long, as officials from the Ho-Chunk Nation, which runs three casinos, said that tribe would not make a $30 million payment that was due today.

The state will find out today if it remains in the red - the Potawatomi tribe, which runs a casino in Milwaukee, will announce if it will make a $34.1 million payment.

At stake overall is up to $206 million in payments counted on by June 30, 2005 for the state's 2003-05 state budget. The Oneida, Ho-Chunk and Potawatomi tribes account for more than 80 percent of the payments overall. If the payments don't come in, the state will have to cut some services or make up the revenue from other sources.

The Oneida tribe made its payment a day before it was due under the terms of a gaming compact approved last year by the tribe and Gov. Jim Doyle.

But the Ho-Chunk tribe, which runs casinos in Black River Falls, Nekoosa and near Baraboo, will close table games at its casinos at midnight tonight, Wiese said. Employees working in those areas will be re-assigned and none will lose their jobs, Wiese said.

The Ho-Chunk tribe, which also operates a bingo hall in Madison, doesn't owe the money because of a state Supreme Court decision that invalidated the unending term of a compact with the Potawatomi, Wiese said. The Ho-Chunk compact included language that relieved the tribe of the payment if the unending provision of the compacts was lifted, Wiese said.

Republican legislative leaders sued Doyle after the governor approved the compact without the Legislature's consent. The court also said the table games were illegal under state law, although several tribal and state officials said that issue is likely to be sorted out in federal court.

Tribal gaming payments over the next 10 years would reach $1 billion under the agreements reached with Doyle, who encouraged tribes to make payments.

State Secretary of Administration Marc Marotta, who negotiated the compacts on behalf of Doyle, said he expects all tribes eventually to make payments, even though some payments may be delayed. Because the state operates on a two-year budget cycle, programs probably wouldn't be affected as long as money comes in by June 30, 2005, Marotta said.

The Potawatomi will make its payment if it is able to secure a bank loan for that purpose, said Ken Walsh, a public affairs consultant for the tribe. The instability caused by the court decision and a pending lawsuit over a casino proposal in Kenosha makes lenders leery of loaning money to the tribe, Walsh said.

The Potawatomi will continue to offer high-stakes games at it casino, whether the payment is made or not, Walsh said. The tribe is not having financial difficulties but had always planned to borrow for the payment, Walsh said.