Gov. Scott Walker filed for a six-month extension Thursday on the Menominee tribe’s casino project in Kenosha in a letter to Kevin Washburn, assistant secretary of Interior for Indian Affairs.
The Menominee tribe has been a seeking approval for decades. If approved, the tribe expects a significant rise in its income. This is the closest the project has come to receiving approval in recent years.
The Department of Administration and the Menominee tribe said they supported the move. DOA Secretary Mike Huebsch recommended the extension to Walker.
“Given this project’s complexity and its potential impact on many areas of the state, we need additional time to obtain a thorough, independent economic analysis,” Huebsch said in a statement Friday.
Walker said the state must independently analyze possible impacts of approving the casino.
“In this instance, additional time beyond the one-year period is necessary to develop and analyze independent data, and facilitate discussions with the interested parties,” Walker said in the letter.
The Menominee tribe partnered with Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos to run the casino if it is approved. The Menominee-Hard Rock team released a joint statement Friday stating its confidence in gaining approval for the project.
The team said in the release it believes the analysis will show how the casino will create thousands of new jobs along the Wisconsin-Illinois border and attract income to help the Menominee tribe along the “path to self-determination.”
Currently, Walker has to decide by Aug. 23 whether to approve the casino. If Washburn grants the extension, the new deadline could be Feb. 19.
