This Too is Very Illegal

I don't seem to remember this ever approved by the voters of this state.

An off-track pari-mutuel betting facility will be added to the Ho-Chunk Casino near Baraboo, a tribal spokeswoman said today.

A tent-like metal frame building that had been used for storage will be converted to the off-track betting parlor, where bets will be taken on simulcast horse and dog races, said spokeswoman Katie Matha. No date has been set for when the new facility will open, Matha said.

"It will be another gaming option; something different," she said. "Everybody's used to slots, blackjack, and all that."

The Ho-Chunk Casino will be the second in the state to offer off-track betting. The Oneida tribe's Oneida Bingo and Casino near Green Bay also offers off-track betting. The Forest County Potawatomi tribe's Milwaukee casino does not offer off-track betting now, but may add it following a planned $240 million expansion, Potawatomi spokesman Ken Walsh said.

This is both a violation of the 1993 amendment to the State Constitution that limited gambling expansion in Wisconsin and (I believe) the gaming compacts Doyle signed with the tribes that also violates that same 1993 amendment. Recall that Doyle's compacts only gave the okay for craps, roulette, and poker rooms. Or so I've read from MSM reports on the compact.

And I mean this as no swipe at Mark Belling, but avid listeners of Belling know he plays the ponies. How is he going to take this news? Will he welcome the news of the Baraboo OTB since he usually goes to Illinois OTBs, or will he be consistent and go after Doyle for allowing the tribes to get away with this?