Let the casino games begin

By RESLER

Thursday, February 20, 2003

Given how Mayor John Norquist feels about gambling, it undoubtedly pained him to acknowledge the truth: Gov. Jim Doyle would be foolish to turn his back on flush Indian casinos to help pull the state out of its deep financial hole.

Norquist, an opponent of gambling, said immediately after Doyle's budget address that it was inevitable the governor would ask the tribes to share more of their wealth with the state. Doyle specifically proposed increasing payments the casinos already make to the state to $237 million or more over two years.

Doyle wasn't engaging in wishful thinking. The Oneida tribe announced Wednesday that it had reached a tentative agreement to pay the state $58 million over three years, starting in 2004. The additional money is in return for a permanent compact that allows the tribe to have more casino games and removes the limits on how much can be bet.

The state now receives a total of about $24.5 million annually from the 11 tribes, including the Oneida, which operate more than 20 casinos. The $24.5 million represents less than 2% of total receipts from all casinos combined. Other states that have Indian gambling receive a much greater share of casino earnings.

Ten of the 11 casino compacts come up for renewal either this year or next, which makes now a perfect time for the state to ask the casinos to up the ante. It's only fair that the tribes get something in return. The Oneida tribe would be allowed to have its casino in Ashwaubenon open 24 hours a day; it also could remove betting limits and add craps and roulette. It's logical to assume that the other tribes would want similar concessions.

What that would mean, of course, would be a significant expansion of gambling in Wisconsin. Like Norquist, we do find that a bit troubling. Expanded gambling can lead to more compulsive gambling; many people who gamble, moreover, probably shouldn't, because they have little money to spare. Critics also complain that casinos have taken a toll on mom-and-pop taverns and restaurants in outlying parts of the state.

But the reality is that casino gambling already has a solid foothold in this state and is a linchpin in Wisconsin's multibillion- dollar tourism industry. Trying at this late stage to limit casino gaming makes little sense.

What the state should do now is continue to regulate gambling carefully and work with the casinos to set aside some of their earnings for programs to treat compulsive gamblers.

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