At least $1 million -- Includes money spent on one proposal

June 9, 1997

The Wolverine State has 14 Indian casinos (and counting), lotteries, pari-mutuel horse racing and charitable bingo by permit. By state law, only Indian tribes and three soon to be chosen licensees in Detroit are permitted to operate casinos, as the reuslt of a paradoxical movement in 1995 when the Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa, the state's largest tribe, tried to unravel the Indian monopoly with a ballot measure called Proposal E. Why? According to their compact with the governor, the Michigan tribes must pay 8 percent of slot machine revenues into state coffers -- but only as long as they're the exclusive casino operators. When the exclusivity ends, so does the state's cut; the Sault tribe alone stood to save millions of dollars by letting non-Indians into the business.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the Saults spent $435,000 on Proposal E, with another $550,000 kicked in by Atwater Entertainment Associates, a Detroit company whose investors include Johnnie Cochran Jr. In all, gambling interests spent more than $1 million on E.

Proposal E passed in 1996 and now there will be three new casino licenses. Among those vying for a license -- former Detroit Mayor Coleman Young.

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