Archives
♦
Contacts
May 8,
2008
Volume 14, Issue 14
Click here
for a printable version
of the newsletter
Michigan
Senate Passes Smoking Ban: Detroit Casinos Included
Today, the Michigan
Senate passed a proposed bill which seeks to ban smoking in public
places, including bars, restaurants, indoor areas, as well as in the
Detroit casinos. The proposed legislation, House Bill 4163,
passed the Michigan Republican-controlled Senate by a vote of 25-12.
The legislation now goes back to the Michigan House of
Representatives for consideration.
House Bill 4163 was
originally introduced in January of 2007, and after several changes
to the bill were adopted by the Democratic-controlled House, the
bill passed the House on December 5, 2007 by a vote of 56-46. The
House version of House Bill 4163 called for a ban on indoor smoking
in public places, but excluded private residences, cigar bars, smoke
shops, the Detroit casinos, bingo halls and horse racetracks.
The currently
proposed Senate version of House Bill 4163 would not impose smoking
restrictions on Michigan’s Native American casinos currently
operating under Class III Gaming Compacts entered between the
various Michigan tribes and the State of Michigan, as a result of
Tribal sovereignty.
In order for the
current draft legislation to become law, it will need to pass the
Michigan House, and then be signed into law by Michigan Governor
Jennifer Granholm. If the House makes additional changes, or adds
certain exemptions back into the bill, the legislation would then
return to the Senate for consideration.
The current version
of the bill that passed the Michigan Senate today can be viewed at:
House Bill 4163.
Back to Top
Financing for
FireKeepers Casino Secured
On Tuesday May 6, the
Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi Indians announced that the
financing for the construction of its FireKeepers Casino in Emmett
Township, just outside of Battle Creek, Michigan, has been secured.
The financing will consist of $340 million in senior notes issued by
the FireKeepers Development Authority, an unincorporated
instrumentality of the Tribe. These senior notes will be due in
2015.
In a press release,
Tribal Chairperson Laura Spurr stated, “[f]inalizing the financing
is a significant step toward the construction of FireKeepers Casino.
The Tribe and the community have waited a long time for our casino
project to provide much-needed jobs and business opportunities to
the greater Calhoun County region.”
The FireKeepers
Casino will be owned by the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi
Indians, and will be managed by Gaming Entertainment (Michigan),
L.L.C., a joint venture between Las Vegas-based Full House Resorts
Inc., and RAM Entertainment, L.L.C., a privately owned investment
company.
The FireKeepers
Casino project calls for a 236,000 square-foot facility to be built
on 78 acres of land in Emmett Township. When completed, the casino
is expected to offer 2,500 class III slot machines, 90 table games
and 20 poker tables. Construction is expected to begin in June, 2008
and be completed during the summer of 2009.
Back to Top
Michigan Horse Tracks
File Suit Challenging Constitutionality of Proposal 1 of 2004
Last week, Northville
Downs, Mt. Pleasant Meadows and the Great Lakes Quarterhorse
Association filed a nine-page lawsuit in the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Michigan against Governor Jennifer M. Granholm and Michigan Attorney General Michael Cox, seeking to
declare Section 41, Article IV of the Michigan Constitution invalid
and unconstitutional. The complaint, which has been assigned
to United States District Court Judge Avern Cohn, alleges that this
section of the Michigan Constitution violates the First Amendment’s
Right to Petition for Redress of Grievances, the Equal Protection
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Due Process Clauses of the
Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, and the Constitution’s Commerce
Clause.
Section 41, Article
IV of the Michigan Constitution encompasses the gaming expansion
prohibition of Proposition 04-1, which was a ballot initiative
passed by Michigan voters in November of 2004.
Proposal 04-1
requires: (1) the approval of voters in a statewide general
election, as well as (2) the approval of a majority of electors
voting in the township or city where new forms of gambling will take
place before there can be the introduction of “any new state lottery
games utilizing table games or player operated mechanical or
electronic devices” or any law which authorizes any form of gambling
after January 1, 2004. The plaintiff’s complaint also seeks to
permanently enjoin Governor Granholm and Attorney General Cox from
enforcing or relying upon the provisions of Proposal 04-1.
Phillip Maxwell, an
attorney for the plaintiffs, told The Detroit News that, “[w]ithout
legislative relief, you will see the end of horse racing in Michigan
within three years. It’s very serious.”
Neither Governor
Granholm nor Attorney General Cox has issued a comment on the
pending lawsuit. A copy of the complaint can be obtained by
clicking here.
Back to Top
