An extraordinary session of the state Senate ended in a shouting match Monday after Republican legislators voted to adjourn and delay a vote on Gov. Jim Doyle's veto of a bill that would give the Legislature approval over tribal gaming compacts.
Senators from both parties jumped out of their chairs and pointed fingers at each other following the motion of state Senate Majority Leader Mary Panzer, R-West Bend, to adjourn after nine hours of debate. Panzer said state Sen. Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, had written a letter to the governor regarding the ability to audit the compacts, but had not received an answer. Panzer said the Senate should adjourn to give Lazich time to receive an answer.
Democrats, however, accused the majority party of childish stall tactics.
\In the end we had enough votes and they didn't, so they shut the session down,"" said state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton.
A two-thirds majority vote is needed to override the governor's veto. It is uncertain whether Democrats do in fact have the votes to sustain the veto, since the Senate originally passed the bill on a voice vote. Republicans hold the Senate majority 18-13.
At least one Democrat, state Sen. Gary George, D-Milwaukee, said Monday he would vote to override the veto. Another, state Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, gave an anti-gambling speech that indicated he might agree with Senate Republicans on the issue.
""My principle concern is the whole issue of gambling,"" Risser said on the floor. ""There is no socially redeeming purpose of gambling in the first place.""
Some of Doyle's opponents cite gambling expansion as a reason they do not approve of the governor's compact negotiations. Another point of contention is the perpetuity clause in the compacts. The governor's tentative agreements, reached in the last two weeks with the Oneida and the Potowatomi, allow the tribes to offer longer casino hours and more games, including craps and roulette, in exchange for giving the state larger chunks of revenue.
The Oneida compact calls for the tribe to give the state $20 million in 2005 and $18 million in 2006. The Potowatomi compact increases the tribe's contribution 6.5 times that of the current payment, giving the state an average of $34 million per year in the first 10 years.
The Legislature gave the governor sole power to negotiate gaming compacts in the 1980s, and a previous bill to allow Legislative oversight was vetoed by former Gov. Tommy Thompson in 1999. Through his negotiations, Doyle plans to get $237 million from the state's 11 tribes. He and his supporters said that money would help alleviate the state's projected $3.2 billion deficit.
""Every dollar we don't get from this gaming revenue will have to be cut from someplace else,"" said state Sen. Judy Robson, D-Beloit, Monday.
