Writer supports state criteria for approval of off-reservation casino by the Menominee Nation in Wisconsin:
Under current law, all new Indian casinos must receive the approval of the Interior secretary, whose department includes the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the governor of the state where any new operations will be located. In the case of the Menominee tribe's application, the decision rests now with Gov. Scott Walker.
Walker, whom many consider a likely candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination should he win re-election in 2014, has issued a set of principles that should be viewed as a model for the nation. In essence, his decision to approve or reject an application for a new tribal-run casino will be determined by whether or not the community in which it is to be located supports it, whether a consensus exists among the state's 11 recognized Indian tribes that it should be built and, perhaps most importantly, that any new casino result in no net increase in gaming.
The idea that there be not net increase in gaming comes from Wisconsinite's themselves who, in 1993, voted to approve an advisory referendum directing that casino expansion in the state be limited which, given the adverse impact gaming establishments sometimes have on communities, reflects the wisdom of the common man and woman.
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Peter Roff:
On Indian Gaming, Walker Has it Right
(Politix 9/9)
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