In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker (R) finds himself conducting a tricky balancing act vis-a-vis tribal casino expansion. It’s difficult to decide whether he’s showing restraint or hiding under the mattress. You can make the case for both conclusions. He doesn’t look as bad, certainly, as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who was for tribal casinos before he was neutral about them.
Here’s the deal: The Menominee Indian Tribe wants to convert Dairyland Greyhound Park, near Kenosha, into a casino. Milwaukee’s mammoth Potowatomi Bingo is opposed to this incursion on the market. To appease the Forest County Potawatomi Community‘s wrath — and get out of doing the heavy lifting — the Menominee have proposed making the Potowatomi community the developer of the $800 million project. To further sweeten the Potowatomi pot, the Menominee would lease VLTs from them and give the Potowatomi a subconcession within Dairyland Park. The offer was conveniently shared with the media, in an attempt at making the Potowatomi look like the bad guys.
This is where Walker comes in. His default position is “no new net gaming.” Even if that 
stance is inspired by prudishness, we have only to look a few miles south, to Illinois, to see the deleterious effects of state-sanctioned dilution. Since, to preserve the status quo ante would require 10 other gaming-enabled tribes to relinquish hard-earned gambling positions, it’s difficult to imagine even one of them signing on to a Menominee casino. That’s the rub, because Walker is surrendering his veto power to the tribal casinos, saying that no new casinos can be added unless all 11 tribes assent. Also, unlike Illinois, casinos are not numerically limited by statute, so the question of a Walker double-standard, an anti-free market stance becomes fairly trenchant.
Walker’s in a tricky spot. He received campaign money from former Menominee developer Dennis Troha, who’s been in trouble with feds for allegedly making illegal donations to other politicians, Democratic and Republican alike. If Walker green-lights Dairyland Park, it’ll be pilloried as a payoff. Walker has been characterized as claiming “he had no interest playing King Solomon.” Up to a point that shows commendable respect for tribal sovereignty, but there are times when the baby must be split. Is Walker to defer all tribally related gaming decisions to a unanimous consensus of 11 tribes, that’s a prescription for policy paralysis. Does he plan on abdicating leadership on all tribal affairs?
If Walker really wants “no new net gaming,” he should plunge the dagger into Dairyland Park himself and take the Troha-related heat. Using 10 tribes as a stalking horse is ultimately disingenuous and unworthy of his office. He says he doesn’t want to displease any of the tribes. Doesn’t that come with the territory?
