WAUKESHA, Wis. (CN) - A Wisconsin taxpayer association sued Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Wednesday over a bill legalizing online sports betting run by tribal nations, claiming racial discrimination.

Evers signed a bill in April to legalize online event and sports betting in the state, so long as the server or device used to conduct the wager is constructed on tribal land and aligned with tribal gaming compacts.

It does so by adding an exception to the legal definition of "bet" to allow for digital bets made within the borders of Wisconsin.

The new law allows tribal nations to take steps toward negotiating with each other, with the state and with betting platforms to create a plan that benefits all 11 federally recognized tribes equally.

On Wednesday, the Brown County Taxpayers Association and Citizens Defending Liberty filed a lawsuit seeking to strike down the law as unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs assert primarily that the Legislature and Evers never had the authority to authorize gambling, which has been barred since the state constitution was amended in 1993.

Despite this, the complaint only names Evers, Department of Administration Seretary Kathy Blumenfeld; Wisconsin Division of Gaming Administrator John Dillett and Indian Gaming Audit Director Jessie Dushek.

Making any bet in Wisconsin was a Class B misdemeanor under the criminal code, with some exceptions. Act 247 carved out another exception, effectively authorizing gambling in a particular form.

The taxpayers say "the people of Wisconsin explicitly took away the Legislature's power to do that" with the 1993 amendment. Nevertheless, Evers has already begun negotiations with tribal leaders to amend compacts with the state to comport with the act.

"Contrary to his apparent plans, the governor has no authority to negotiate to allow anyone to violate Wisconsin law," the taxpayers say in the 21-page complaint. "And thus, all attempts by the governor to negotiate compact amendments that purport to allow statewide sports betting based upon the illegally adopted Act 247 would be ultra vires."

But the plaintiffs also claim the act discriminates based on race by providing certain benefits exclusively to tribal nations.

By permitting mobile sports betting only if the device used to conduct the wager is physically located on tribal land, the act makes a racial classification to afford one group certain financial benefits over any other, they say.

They want the court to block enforcement of the act and administration any mobile sports betting throughout Wisconsin. This would include compact amendment negotiations.

"Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty is a radical, right-wing entity that is actively working to undermine the sovereignty of the tribal nations in Wisconsin, and @GovEvers will fight that effort every step of the way," Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in a statement on X.

Wisconsin has been a hot bed for gambling suits in recent months, with lawsuits flying between Evers, prediction markets, tribal nations and the federal government.  

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Wisconsin over the gambling decriminalization, claiming the state lacks the authority to regulate prediction markets such as Kalshi and Robinhood.

The Ho-Chunk Nation sued Kalshi last year for engaging in event contracts which it says are simply illegal sports bets in disguise. A federal judge declined to bar Kalshi and Robinhood from operating in Wisconsin but stopped short of dismissing the complaint entirely.

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a similar suit in April on behalf of the state against several prediction market websites including Kalshi and Robinhood, again claiming the event contracts are indistinguishable from illegal sports betting.

The results of these suits have thus far been lackluster, but Wednesday's complaint adds another layer onto an already complex issue.

The federal government has every right to make certain laws and regulations with the benefit of tribal nations in mind, but that authority has never been extended to states, according to the taxpayers.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, a conservative legal group representing the taxpayers in Wednesday's action, said in a press release that the Legislature should have asked voters to amend the constitution instead of passing the act.

"Thirty-three years ago, Wisconsinites expressed through a constitutional amendment that the Legislature may not expand gambling in any form. The lawsuit ensures that elected officials remain accountable to the people of Wisconsin by upholding the constitutional limits the people, themselves, called for," said associate counsel Kirsten Atanasoff.

The petitioners could not be reached by press time to comment on the choice to leave the Republican-led Legislature off Wednesday's lawsuit.

Source: Courthouse News Service