Dividend payments to tribal members also were suspended. The Potawatomi Hotel & Casino in Milwaukee – the state’s largest – was closed from mid-March to around June 8 and reportedly laid off about 1,600 workers, or more than half its workforce, in July. Casino workers, local communities, and tribal governments and their social services will also see losses due to COVID-19.

The state is not the only affected party. In addition, the state could see more modest declines in additional tribal gaming revenues that are allocated for specific purposes such as tourism, conservation, and services for tribal members.

Other segments of tribal casino business including their hotels, restaurants, concerts, and events have also been severely impacted.ĭOA recently projected there would not be sufficient payments from tribal casinos to allow for any revenues to the state’s general fund in 2021, despite a projection made before the pandemic that more than $27 million would flow to the fund. Tribal casinos closed for more than two months last spring during the lockdown period and reopened with reduced capacity and more limited demand. However, these figures may overstate the long-term decline if tribes end up making delayed payments to the state later. Overall tribal payments to the state are also being affected. Tribal gaming revenue going to the state’s general fund totaled just $5.3 million for the 2020 fiscal year ended on June 30, down from $29.1 million in 2019 (see Figure 1). Besides adding to the state’s budget challenges, this decline also exacerbates financial woes facing casino workers, local and tribal governments, and Native American households.Īfter five years of steady revenues, the tribal gaming payments that flow into the state’s main fund declined by 81.7% last year, according to recent figures from the state Department of Administration (DOA). A recent state report shows that from 2020 to 2022 the state’s general fund is projected for now to receive at least $70 million less than originally expected from gaming revenues collected from the state’s 11 federally recognized tribes. The pandemic’s impacts on the entertainment industry have been widely reported, but less attention has been paid to the fallout for tribal casinos and state and local revenues.

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