Wisconsin’s Menominee tribe has stirred controversy and sparked debate after applying to open an off-reservation casino in the Kenosha area, drawing Gov. Scott Walker, state legislators and other Wisconsin tribes into the mix.
The Menominee casino received approval from the U.S. Department of the Interior Aug. 23, allowing Walker to weigh his veto power, given to him under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. The act outlines the requirements the Menominee would have to follow to establish a casino on land outside their reservation borders.
The tribe argues the new casino would add economic development and increase employment in the state. State representatives from the Kenosha area, including state Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, have voiced support for the casino. Critics of the casino dispute the economic development promises the Menominee made as well as the possibility of contributing to a state gambling problem.
Walker has yet to make a decision, saying he would defer to a consensus between the 11 tribes located in Wisconsin. The governor’s attempt to seek consensus has drawn criticism from people familiar with tribal and state law. Richard Monette, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of law, said Walker’s consensus decision “racializes” the Menominee casino situation.
“To cast this sort of pan-tribe blanket over [the casino decision] is really unfortunate,” Monette said. “It would be a bit like the governor announcing there would be no new bicycle stores in the state unless Trek agrees.”
The consensus situation is complicated further by the Wisconsin Potawatomi tribe’s concern a new casino in the area would cut into its already established Milwaukee area casino as well as organizations, such as Enough Already Wisconsin, that have released reports from economists refuting the economic benefits of a tribal casino.
However, Dylan Jennings, a UW-Madison student from the Bad River Band Indian Reservation in northern Wisconsin, said casinos are often key to generating money for a tribe and often employ more non-reservation residents than those from the tribe.
“The casinos have been proven to be good for the economy and that’s something we could use in the state of Wisconsin,” Jennings said.
