SAMPLE LETTERS TO THE GOVERNOR

Below are three sample letters to Governor Evers, urging him to reject the Ho Chunk fee-to-trust application for the Beloit Casino. 

• Handwritten letters get the most attention from elected officials. Please handwrite your letter and envelope.
• Feel free to use any language from below or information from our Beloit Casino info page.  
• You can tell a story about how gambling has negatively impacted you and/or a loved one; or personalize your letter in some other manner. 
• Letters do not need to be long, just a few paragraphs. Please be sure that your letters include all 3 of the following: use a subject line like the one in the sample letters below; specifically request the Governor to reject the Ho Chunk application for the off-reservation casino; and list at least one reason he should not approve the application.
• Be sure to take a picture of your letter before you drop it in the mail.

Please be sure to send a picture of your letter to Lorri at Citizens Against Expanded Gambling via text or email. We will print and compile the letters so that Governor Evers cannot claim that he did not hear opposition from citizens regarding this issue.

Snap a picture with your phone and text it to Lorri Pickens:  920-659-4489 

OR

Snap a picture with your phone and email to Lorri:  info@citizensagainstexpandedgambling.com

SAMPLE LETTER #1 

April 23, 2020

Governor Tony Evers
115 East
State Capitol
Madison, WI 53702

SUBJECT:  Please Say No to the Off-Reservation Beloit Casino

Dear Governor Evers,

I am strongly urging you to reject the Ho Chunk application for an off-reservation casino in Beloit. Wisconsin has enough casinos. 

In Wisconsin counties with casinos, violent crimes increased approximately 30% after the opening of a casino.  The arrests for forgery, fraud, embezzlement and receiving stolen property is about 50% above counties without casinos.

Gambling related embezzlements continue to rise in Wisconsin year after year. Nearly 65% of all problem gamblers have committed a crime as result of their gambling problem.

Wisconsin does not need another casino. Please do not approve the Beloit casino off-reservation application.

Sincerely, 

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SAMPLE LETTER #2

April 23, 2020

Governor Tony Evers
115 East
State Capitol
Madison, WI 53702

SUBJECT:  Please Say No to the Off-Reservation Beloit Casino

Dear Governor Evers,

I respectfully request that you say no to the Ho Chunk’s off-reservation Beloit casino application. 

I watched a gambling addiction destroy a loved one’s livelihood and family, nearly costing him his very own life. Sadly, this is not a rare occurrence. With 26 casinos throughout the state, no one has more than a 2-hour drive to get to one. Studies consistently show that the closer you live to a casino, the more likely you are to develop a gambling addiction. 

Gambling creates no new wealth. Its business model depends on people playing to their own extinction. I believe that government should encourage the things that are good for its citizens like building a savings and making investments, instead of encouraging activities that cause harmful addictions like gambling.

Government’s constitutional role is to protect its citizens. Predatory partnerships, like the one being proposed with the Beloit Casino, create an unacceptable outcome:  in order for the government to win, its citizens must lose.  There are better and healthier ways to generate tax revenue than to encourage gambling addictions.

Sincerely, 

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SAMPLE LETTER #3

April 23, 2020

Governor Tony Evers
115 East
State Capitol
Madison, WI 53702

SUBJECT:  Please Say No to the Off-Reservation Beloit Casino

Dear Governor Evers,

I am writing to request that you reject the Ho Chunk fee-to-trust application to build an off-reservation casino in Beloit.

Studies show that urban casinos have a much different impact on the community than rural casinos do. Negative economic impacts result when gambling operations alter established retail spending or employment patterns, create more problem gambling, and increase costs for traffic, law enforcement, and infrastructure. 

This is largely because more of the gamblers are local residents so the money they spend on gambling displaces other local expenditures.  Sometimes, these displaced expenditures are necessities like food, shelter, and clothing.

The proposed site rests on 33 acres of prime Beloit real estate. If approved, local residents will lose control over a significant part of their community, and this approval will set a dangerous precedence for other urban casinos in cities throughout Wisconsin.

Sincerely, 

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