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Madison — Senate President Mike Ellis on Wednesday questioned Gov. Scott Walker's plans for deciding whether to approve a Kenosha casino, signaling he viewed one of Walker's standards as anti-free market.

Walker, who now has the lone say on approving the Menominee Indian casino at a former greyhound track, has said he would approve the facility only if there is consensus among the state's 11 tribes. That appears unlikely, as the Forest County Potawatomi officials fiercely oppose the Kenosha casino because they believe it will interfere with business at their lucrative Milwaukee casino.

"This seems to me to be counter to the concept of free enterprise," Ellis (R-Neenah) said of Walker's policy.

He said Walker's criteria would be like requiring Home Depot to get approval from Menards and other competitors to build a new store. Casinos are no different from any other type of business, Ellis said.

"Are we going to start saying we can only have so many gas stations?" Ellis said. "Are we going to start saying we can only have so many hardware stores?"

Ellis' comments came a day after Walker said he did not want to play the role of King Solomon and choose between two "well-respected entities" — the Menominee and the Potawatomi.

An aide to Walker declined to comment Wednesday on Ellis' critique of the governor's plan for reviewing the proposed casino.

The U.S. Department of Interior last week approved the proposed $800 million casino at the former Dairyland Greyhound Park along I-94 in Kenosha. That gives Walker the final say on the plan.

Walker has said he has three standards for considering any new casino. The new gambling venue must result in "no new net gaming" in the state, must have community support and must have the approval of all the state's other tribes. Walker plans to begin soon a 60-day period to gather comments from the tribes.

Opposition awaits

The Potawatomi have long opposed a Kenosha casino, and a spokesman for the Ho-Chunk Nation said Wednesday there was "no chance" his tribe would support the Kenosha proposal.

"We're pretty firm in believing there isn't going to be any consensus for the (Ho-Chunk) Nation when it comes to gaming in ancestral Ho-Chunk land," Ho-Chunk spokesman Collin Price said.

The Ho-Chunk are pursuing a casino in Beloit, but Price said that proposal was different from the Menominee one in Kenosha because of past negotiations between the state and Ho-Chunk.

Jeff Crawford, attorney general for the Potawatomi, said a comparison to competition among fast food restaurants doesn't fly when talking about Indian gaming.

"The senator is correct if he's talking about us building a McDonald's next to a Burger King," Crawford said.

"The fact of the matter is the federal government said there will be limitations on Indian gaming....It is not a true free enterprise system. It is a heavily regulated" industry.

The Menominee say they have tried to enter discussions with the Potawatomi about the proposed casino for years but have been rebuffed. Speaking to reporters hours before Ellis made his comments, Walker told reporters the tribes need to talk.

"They need to set up more meetings," Walker said. "If there are difficulties, we can facilitate discussions. Right now, you have the Menominees who have the most interest in the case.

"It's incumbent on them to offer to meet with the Potawatomis, or any other tribal council or tribal leadership who might have an objection."

Ellis, who lives about 140 miles from the proposed Kenosha casino, is the first Republican legislator outside the area to show support for the proposal. It already has the backing of two area GOP legislators, Rep. Samantha Kerkman of Powers Lake and Rep. Thomas Weatherston of Racine.

Evan Zeppos, a spokesman for the Menominee, said he was pleased by Ellis' comments.

"He is a free-market guy," Zeppos said. "He is a guy who believes there ought to be competition. He looked at the facts — there is a monopoly."

But a spokesman for the anti-casino group Enough Already WI! said Ellis' comments "ignore the reality of off-reservation gaming approvals."

"Despite the grand promises being made by the Menominee tribe, there's a recognition that tribal gaming isn't the great elixir, but rather a complex economic model wrought with social challenges, local small business threats and a cannibalization of the finite gaming market," said the statement from the spokesman, Brian Nemoir.

Enough Already WI! has refused to disclose who finances its efforts to oppose the Kenosha casino.

The proposal would create more than 3,300 permanent jobs at the casino development and would result in $35 million a year going to the state, according to Zeppos. All tribes make payments to the state based on a percentage of the money they take in.

Don Walker and Cary Spivak of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report from Milwaukee.