Posted on 01/25/2007 11:15:15 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Gov. Jim Doyle's proposal to ban smoking in all public places, including bars, is likely to reignite a longstanding feud between local tavern owners and casinos owned by American Indian tribes.
The casinos would be exempt from the proposed ban because they are located on tribal lands not subject to state or local laws.
The smoking ban proposal announced Wednesday "would probably not apply to us," said Katie Funmaker, a spokeswoman for the Ho-Chunk tribe, which operates casinos in Wisconsin Dells and Black River Falls and the Dejope gaming facility on Madison's east side.
Funmaker noted that smoking is allowed at Dejope despite the city's ban on smoking in taverns and restaurants.
Other tribes also indicated that they believe the proposed ban would not apply to their casinos.
Some state lawmakers have said they may propose exempting taverns from the proposed smoking ban. Legislation to enact the ban has not yet been drafted; Doyle is expected to send it to lawmakers later this month.
The tribes' ability to offer legal gambling has been a source of irritation to tavern owners for years. Tavern owners contend that federal law allows the casinos to unfairly compete with local bars.
Lawmakers eased some of the tension in 1999 when they allowed tavern owners to have up to five video poker machines without facing any criminal penalties.
But the smoking ban will renew charges of unfair competition, said Tomah tavern operator Ed Thompson, who faced criminal charges in 1998 for having video poker machines in his Tee Pee Supper Club. The charges were later dropped.
"It's the age-old thing of 'Why can they do it when I can't?'" said Thompson, who was also a Libertarian gubernatorial candidate in 2002. "How can anybody say that's fair?"
Funmaker responded, "The difference is we are a sovereign nation, where the taverns are not. Our sovereignty allows us to govern ourselves.
"If the state is going to try to enforce this (ban), it's like the Ho-Chunk Nation trying to make policy for the state of Wisconsin. We are a separate government, and our sovereignty allows for these things."
She added that unlike taverns, the Ho-Chunk and other tribes also pay the state millions in casino revenues.
"So there are some things the taverns are able to do that we can't," she said.
Thompson said the ban probably won't have much effect on his business, which is located about 27 miles from the Ho-Chunk casino in Black River Falls and about 40 miles from the tribe's casino in Wisconsin Dells.
"It's not like somebody is going to drive that distance just so that they can have a cigarette with their beer," he said, adding that his restaurant is already smoke-free. "But it's going to be a death blow for some of these little places that just have a shot and a beer."
Funmaker noted that smoking is banned in all tribal workplaces except the casinos.
"Maybe in the future our tribal legislature may look into making our (casino) operations smoke-free as well," she said.
Redman's revenge bump!
Does Ms. Funmaker have a son named "Happy"?
And less government intrusion and BS laws and socialism, and keeping more freedoms that are practically NONexistent...
If McInsane is on the ballot for POTUS later on, I have no reason to bother with the GOP.
That's great! If the folks on the religion threads are right, and there is indeed a just and merciful God...the Native Americans who were ass raped by the white man for 450 years will get rich selling the crop they discovered and cultivated 5 centuries ago (tobacco)by selling it and making a fortune and catering to their consumers of the crop. Meanwhile, white men like Spitzer and Bloomberg, and the states who are addicted to the tobacco MSA payments will become poor and beg them for money. At that point, we should all turn our lives over to Jesus. It would prove THERE IS A GOD!
Hmmm, I like the way you think. :-)
True in some cases I'm sure, but many of these casinos pull resources from outside their "sovereign states." In Milwaukee there's no Potawatomi tribal resources, and in Green Bay the Oneida's pull from Ashwaubenon, not their own tribal departments. I'd imagine that the Potawatomi Indian Casino pulls more than its fair share of police, fire and ambulance services from the city of Milwaukee, but instead all we hear here is how Walmart is ruining the community because it requires some of the same.
Yes, tongue in cheek. BUT - if all of these heavy-handed laws such as smoking prohibitions, are so great - wouldn't everyone embrace them including sovereign nations within the US?
The casinos in Colorado got a free pass, smoking allowed, and they aren't owned by the Indians.
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