Walker Says He Legally Can’t Prevent Ho-Chunk’s Casino Expansion

Gov. Scott Walker said there’s legally nothing he or his administration can do to prevent the Ho-Chunk Nation from expanding its casino in central Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, two other Wisconsin Indian tribes have raised concerns about the Ho-Chunk’s expansion of a once-limited gambling hall into a larger casino and hotel in Wittenberg, east of Wausau.

The Stockbridge-Munsee and Menominee tribes claim allowing the expansion of Ho-Chunk Wittenberg goes against previous criteria for growth in gambling Walker established and used to block a casino the Menominee sought in Kenosha.

The Ho-Chunk made an agreement with the state in 2003 by then-Gov. Democrat Jim Doyle. Walker and the Ho-Chunk say Walker does not have the authority to reverse or intervene in the case because the Ho-Chunk are staying within the 2003 compact.

The agreement gives the tribe the option to expand its Wittenberg facility near casinos run by the Stockbridge-Munsee and Menominee tribes. Walker said his hands are effectively tied.

“It doesn’t require any approval from me or the administration,” Walker said. “It was approved in the compact that Jim Doyle settled with the Ho-Chunk years ago. They chose to invoke it now. But I have legally no authority to block that.”

The Menominee and Stockbridge-Munsee tribes previously petitioned the state to build off- reservation casinos, but were denied.

Last year, Walker turned down the Menominee Tribe’s request to open a casino off the tribe’s reservation in Kenosha.

“We’d look and apply the same standards for anything that required approval,” Walker said. “For me, I’d apply the same standards that applied to the site in Kenosha.”

Stockbridge-Munsee President Shannon Holsey and general counsel Dennis Puzz say they don’t think the Walker administration fully grasps the potential for the expansion to lead to more expansions by the Ho-Chunk and at least two other tribes at casinos that aren’t currently major sites.

The Ho-Chunk have already started the $33 million expansion. The tribe has no official reservation boundaries in Wisconsin.