Gov. Doyle: Statement of Governor Doyle on $20 Million Payment from Oneida Nation

Contact:
Ethnie Groves, Office of the Governor, 608-261-2156

I am pleased that today, the Oneida Nation is stepping forward and living up
to the terms of this compact by making its $20 million payment to the state
on time. The Oneida – like other tribes in our state – are working with us
in good faith. In spite of a partisan Republican lawsuit, the Oneida are
committed to being a strong partner with the State of Wisconsin.

I am committed to resolving the issues raised by the Supreme Court, and we
are working with the Tribes to do just that. But in the meantime, we have
valid, federally approved compacts in effect, and those compacts require
payments by the tribes. I expect that most if not all of the tribes will
make those payments by June 30th or in the near future.

Let me put this payment in some perspective.

When I took office last year, I inherited the largest budget deficit in the
history of our state. I was – and remain – firmly committed to balancing
our budget without increasing taxes. To help fill a $3.2 billion budget
hole, my Administration negotiated compacts with Wisconsin Indian Tribes
that brought our state $206 million in the next two years alone and more
than a billion dollars over the next 10 years.

Those payments by the Tribes represent twice as much as what corporations in
our state pay, more than four times as much as the compacts negotiated by
Governor Thompson, and – according to an independent media review last year
– under these compacts, Wisconsin will rank second in the country in the
amount of money we collect from tribal gaming.

Without these payments, Wisconsin would have been forced down the road of
other states – cutting people’s health care benefits, shortening the school
year, or raising taxes on average, middle-class families.

Because of these payments from the Tribes, we were able to avoid raising any
taxes. And we protected core priorities like education, health care,
economic development, and the environment.

Without this $20 million payment by the Oneida – just one Tribe – we might
have had to cut the SAGE small class size initiative, cutting off 10,000
kids from the program.

We might have had to cut payments to county and municipally owned nursing
homes nearly in half.

And more than 30,000 adults and children might have lost their BadgerCare
coverage.

Thankfully, we won’t have to make those devastating cuts, because the Oneida
Nation is doing the right thing today.

Chairwoman Danforth, thank you for your able and responsible leadership
today. The Oneida are a sovereign nation, and a great friend of Wisconsin.
I look forward to continuing to work together for the benefit of all our
citizens.