"There are about 17 tribal casinos in Wisconsin. All but one are unstrategically scattered on tribal reservations in 14 counties, cannibalizing Wisconsin discretionary income. Let's close half of the 16 casinos on reservations and put the rest near state borders, where they can pull in somebody else's discretionary income.
To maximize interstate tourism, suppose we have eight new casinos, similar to Milwaukee's Potawatomi casino, along our borders. Keep Milwaukee's Potawatomi, maybe upgrade the Oneida tribe's Green Bay casino and the St. Croix Chippewa casino in Danbury, close the rest and offer voluntary transfers to employees to one of the new facilities.
With this plan, we can accommodate the eager beavers in Kenosha, Beloit and Shullsberg along our southern border and Hudson on our western border. We can certainly find one town near the Upper Peninsula between Marinette and Hurley and a lower Mississippi River town that would host a large casino.
In return for perhaps a unified 20-year gaming compact, the tribes would ensure all of their members a significant stake in casinos. They would pay the state a percentage of gross revenue equal to about $90 million a year, what the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute once calculated such businesses would be worth to the state if they were not tribal operations.
And maybe we could let tribes have toll roads leading to their casinos, for the infrastructure improvements that top tourist attractions need."
Get the Story:
Tim Haering: Casinos on the edge: All could be winners
(The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 3/25)
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