1. In a statement Tuesday, Hutchison also noted that the compact has been approved by governors and state lawmakers in Maine and Vermont. 2. State officials recognized the opportunity to increase their tax base and refused to approve compacts unless the tribes paid a percentage of their earnings in taxes. 3. The House has already approved the compact, which does not specify a site for storing the waste. 4. Wellstone would approve the compact if two of his accepted amendments were included -- both of which were approved but stripped from compromise legislation between the House and Senate. 5. Baird and former Attorney General Frank Kelley argued that the state Constitution required a majority of the Legislature to approve the compacts as new state law. 6. Earlier in the day, the six-member Joint Committee on Gaming Compacts unanimously recommended that the LCC approve the compact. 7. The House, fulfilling its constitutional duty to approve compacts reached between the states, voted by voice to accept the agreement. |