The Associated Press
Gov. Scott Walker could wait until after the November election to decide the fate of a casino in Kenosha.
Walker’s administration announced Friday that it received a six-month extension to make a decision on whether to approve the Menominee tribe’s request to open an $800 million off-reservation casino in Kenosha.
That moves the deadline from Aug. 23 to Feb. 19. The election is Nov. 4.
Both the tribe and its partner, the Hard Rock Casino, had supported the delay.
The Menominee tribe has been pushing for opening an off-reservation casino for more than 20 years, saying it will help pull its tribal members out of poverty. The tribe wants to build the casino complex on the grounds of the old Dairyland Greyhound dog track in Kenosha.
Walker has said he wouldn’t approve the casino unless all of the state’s 11 tribes agree to it. The Ho-Chunk and Forest County Potawatomi tribes, which operate other casinos in Wisconsin, have steadfastly opposed the proposal.
In addition to unanimous agreement among the tribes, Walker said the casino needed community support and must result in no new net gambling.
Walker’s administration has ordered an independent analysis of the economic impact of the proposed casino and entertainment complex that would include a Hard Rock Hotel. The Menominee have said the $800 million project will create 5,000 direct and indirect jobs, while the Potawatomi have said it will cost the Milwaukee area where that tribe operates a rival casino about 3,000 jobs.
Economic impact was not one of the original criteria Walker said he would use for deciding whether he would approve the project.
Walker and tribal chairwoman Laurie Boivin said in the February letter to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs requesting the extension that more time is needed to “develop and analyze independent data, and facilitate discussions with the interested parties.”
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke has criticized Walker for seeking a delay in the decision until after the election.