Tribes Have Spending Wish Lists for Gambling Money
Requests from the state's tribal nations range in size from a few thousand to several million dollars as the tribe's take advantage of Gov. Jim Doyle's invitation to submit their wish lists.
The requests submitted in May range from the tangible, like the Red Cliff Band's need to replace a 20-year-old X-ray machine at a cost of $70,000, to the more abstract, such as $150,000 for the creation of the Wisconsin Indian Education Association.
Added up, the tribes have requested $34.2 million over the upcoming biennium, according to the Department of Administration's budget shop.
"We simply give them the courtesy we give everyone else of hearing their requests and prioritizing them within the state budget," said Sean Dilweg, DOA executive assistant.
The first time the tribes were given the chance to submit requests was two years ago when, Dilweg said, the tribes "didn't get much of what they asked for outside usual earmarks."
Since the compacts were entered in 1998, roughly $20 million annually is spent on state projects like tourism promotion and sewer and water treatment, Dilweg said. Prior to 1998, the federal government capped at $350,000 the amount states could receive from tribes in exchange for exclusive gaming rights.
The state receives approximately $100 million annually in revenue from the gaming compacts, and returns about $20 million annually to the tribes, Dilweg said.
According to a Legislative Fiscal Bureau paper released in January 2005, the state allocations of tribal gaming revenue back to state programs totaled $20.2 million in 1999-00, $22.2 million in 2000-01, $24.0 million in 2001-02, $27.2 million in 2002-03, and $22.9 million annually in 2003-04 and 2004-05. LFB staffer Art Zimmerman, who prepared the memo, said some of the money provided to state agencies goes to programs that benefit tribal members, while some is spent on projects with no ties to the tribes.
Under current law, monies in excess of the amounts allocated to state agencies are deposited in the general fund, according to Zimmerman.
See the LFB paper: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lfb/Informationalpapers/81.pdf (The allocation amounts are provided in Table 3 of the document, pages 26 and 27 of the pdf file.)
According to a presentation made to the Wisconsin Legislative Council Special Committee on State-Tribal Relations last month, the tribal gaming revenue allocations made to agencies in 2006-07 was approximately $28 million and provided base funding for 42 programs in state government.
See the memo: http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/061208Nov06LFBMemo.pdf
"It's a positive thing because it is bringing tribal governments right into the operations of the state," said Bad River Band operations manager Ray DePerry of the request process. "We've benefited in an across-the- board way. We understand that sure, we may not get everything on our list, but the fact we have the process in place'' is beneficial.
While Doyle has kept the funding level steady in his budgets, legislators have chosen to pare back the money sent back to tribes. "We may include some requests in budget; it's too early to tell," said Dilweg. "But the Legislature has to agree, and in the past the Legislature has not agreed on some of those issues."
A spokesman for Assembly Speaker-elect Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said the office wouldn't comment on the tribal requests until the governor finalizes his budget.
DePerry said the Wisconsin Indian Education Association would work in conjunction with state agencies and groups like the Department of Public Instruction, the Board of Regents and the Wisconsin Education Association.
DePerry said the proposed WIEA has been backed by the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council because the Native American community lacks a centralized agency to deal with education issues on a statewide level. "If there's one issue where all the tribes can pull together, it's education," he said. DePerry said $150,000 would be enough to hire staff and locate an office, get the organization operating "and hopefully fine-tune from there."
Bad River is also looking for $115,000 in FY 07 and $150,000 in FY 08 for the purchase of road maintenance equipment. DePerry said federal Bureau of Indian Affairs funding isn't enough to keep the community's 41.3 miles in roads in good repair.
"We need plows, graders, heavy equipment-type machinery," he said. "The equipment we have looks like it's from the Third World."
Also on the Bad River list is $1 million for the proposed Native American Cultural Educational Center in Wausau, a cooperative effort between the city, the GLITC and the Ho-Chunk Nation. The estimated $6.4 million project is to convert an existing federal building "into a place that will promote diversity, respect and an understanding of the state's 11 tribal nations," said Bad River chairman Eugene Bigboy. "Nowhere in the state does such a building now exist, and nowhere in the state has such a project received the overwhelming support of all 11 tribes."
The Ho-Chunk had a nine-item wish list, including road improvements near their casinos, increased DPI funding for alternative schools teaching native language, expanded funding of the Tribal Law Enforcement Grant Program, and more support for Health and Family Services programs. The Ho-Chunk list also included a request for increased funding to the State Historical Society for preserving cultural artifacts, and the establishment of a facility to hold and preserve artifacts.
The Lac du Flambeau seek $2.5 million to help with a new $5 million clinic project, and more funds for human services like elderly care, alcohol and drug abuse prevention, child welfare and mental health services. Also included in the Lac du Flambeau request is $4.3 million over the biennium for various natural resources programs such as wild rice enhancement, mercury contamination prevention, and funding to stop the invasion of invasive aquatic species.
The Oneida Tribe is requesting roughly $4.8 million over the biennium. Of that, $1.5 million is to build a therapy pool and therapeutic education center at the Syble Hopp School for children with disabilities, and about $1.4 million is for road improvements and a new fire station in the Village of Hobart.
Among the St. Croix Tribe's request is $10.3 million for the tribal police department, most of which would be earmarked for a new $10 million Justice Center, Law Enforcement Training Facility/Emergency Operation Center.
Among the Menominee Tribe's requests is additional funding for family services, child and adult care food programs, and elderly care programs.
The Red Cliff Band seeks $30,000 to manage the sport and commercial fishery they operate in Lake Superior.
The request from the Sokaogon Chippewa Community (located near Mole Lake) includes $2.6 million to construct and equip an emergency services facility in the Town of Nashville, which envelopes the Sokaogon reservation. Also requested is $1.2 million environmental education aquatic culture facility.
The Potawatomi tribe, which operates a lucrative casino in Milwaukee, did not submit a request.
See a summary of tribal requests: http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/061208tribal.pdf
