But governor's office says Thompson won't sign off on Lac du Flambeau plans
Associated Press
Monday, May 1, 2000
Green Bay -- The Lac du Flambeau Chippewa say their gaming compact extension with the state does not prohibit building a second casino near Lambeau Field.
"I have talked with the governor. He has never asked me to close our gaming operation to the north," Lac du Flambeau Chairman Tom Maulson said in a recent interview.
The Lac du Flambeau operate the Lake of the Torches casino in Vilas County, the tribe's only gaming site. The casino is part of a hotel-convention center complex and offers slot machines, blackjack and bingo.
The governor's office has said Gov. Tommy G. Thompson will not sign off on the Lac du Flambeau's proposed $80 million casino complex in Brown County unless the tribe closes its existing casino.
An April 19 memorandum by the Wisconsin Legislative Council said the tribe's compact amendment "may permit a gaming facility to be located on land that is located outside the boundaries" of the tribe's 98,000-acre reservation under certain circumstances.
It says endorsements by Brown County and the U.S. Interior Department would require Thompson to negotiate with the tribe on the proposed casino in good faith.
The governor hasn't approved any off-reservation casinos since state-tribal compacts were signed in 1991-'92.
A second Lac du Flambeau casino would seem contrary to an April 1993 referendum in which a constitutional amendment to limit the expansion of gambling statewide won the support of 59% of state voters, 61% of Brown County voters.
The governor has not publicly commented on the proposal. But lengthy hurdles at the local and county levels make the question of whether the governor would sign off on a second casino "barely worth discussing at this point," said Thompson spokesman Kevin Keane.
"They still need to get it to the governor's desk before the question even comes into play," Keane said.
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