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Ho-Chunk Stops Gaming Payments to Wisconsin Due to 2003 Gaming Compact Failure

On July 1st, 2008, the state put an end to another fiscal year without receiving any payment for casino gambling operations from the Ho-Chunk Nation Indian tribe, prompting state of Wisconsin officials to comment that the American Indian tribe now owes the state around $100 million. The Ho-Chunk Tribe's latest gaming payment to Wisconsin should have been given on Monday, but the tribal officials refused to give the required payment, like it did in the years past.

Ho-Chunk tribe officials argued the worth of the tribe's 2003 casino gambling agreement with Wisconsin lost much of its value when the Wisconsin Supreme Court decided on 2004 that Governor Jim Doyle did not have the right to signed and approved gambling compacts for the state without consulting the legislative first. The Ho-Chunk Indian tribe continues to feature Class III games like poker and roulette that were allowed under the 2003 gambling compact but it has stopped any payments to the tribe that were also agreed upon under the 2003 gambling compact deal.

Doyle commented that the Ho-Chunk Tribe still needs to pay the gaming profits to the state and Wisconsin officials will continue to pursue the case in federal court-the only option available to the state of Wisconsin under the federal Indian gambling laws.

 

Thursday, July 17 , 2008
Edward O'Connor