Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The: Ho-Chunk seek arbitration; Tribe wants third party to end casino

Madison The Ho-Chunk Nation filed for arbitration late Thursday over its casino negotiations with the state.

Talks have been hung up for more than a year because the tribe wants to open at least one more casino, an element of the impasse disclosed for the first time Thursday.

Administration Secretary Marc Marotta Gov. Jim Doyle's chief negotiator said the tribe wants to open "multiple facilities," which the state opposes. A tribal official said the Ho-Chunk want to add at least one more casino to the three they have now.

The move comes less than a week after Marotta said the state would call in arbitrators in its talks with the Ho-Chunk and the Forest County Potawatomi if new gaming deals were not reached by June 30, the end of the fiscal year.

Last year, the state Supreme Court ruled Doyle overstepped his authority by signing a perpetual compact with the Potawatomi that allowed craps, roulette and other new games. The state has been trying to sign new deals with all 11 tribes ever since, but has focused its talks on the Potawatomi and Ho-Chunk, whose casinos are the highest grossing in the state.

The state and Ho-Chunk will meet next week to seek a disinterested arbitrator who has knowledge of casino and tribal law. The arbitrator is expected to decide the matter within six months, though that deadline could be extended.

The earlier Ho-Chunk compact called for annual payments to the state of $30 million in 2004 and 2005. The tribe did not make last year's payment, and tribal spokeswoman Tracy Littlejohn said the Ho- Chunk would not make this year's payment, which is due at the end of the month.

The Ho-Chunk have recently run into financial problems, but Littlejohn said the tribe has the ability to pay the full $60 million if ordered by an arbitrator to do so.

Marotta said he expects the state to collect "a substantial portion" of the $60 million.

The arbitrator will decide the size of those payments, as well as what the tribe must pay in the future. The arbitrator also will decide the length of the deal and what games would be allowed. The arbitrator could select either side's offer or write a compromise compact.

Littlejohn said the tribe wants a 25- to 30-year deal that allows all the new games. She also said the tribe feels it should be allowed to open at least one more casino. The tribe should pay less than it did under the earlier compact because that deal had no expiration date, she said.

The tribe hoped to open a casino in Madison under its previous compact, but those plans collapsed last year when an advisory referendum failed.

Marotta said new facilities should not be part of the current talks.

"We're not interested in that," he said. "We want to focus on the heart of the matter."

The tight timing means an arbitrator may have to make a decision before the state Supreme Court rules on a lawsuit brought by Kenosha's Dairyland Greyhound Park that argues all casino gambling in Wisconsin is illegal. That case will likely be heard in the fall.

Ho-Chunk compact

The earlier Ho-Chunk compact called for annual payments to the state of $30 million in 2004 and 2005.

The tribe wants a 25- to 30-year deal that allows new games.

The tribe has the ability to pay the full $60 million if ordered by an arbitrator to do so.

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