Overview
- Nicole Boyd used the annual address to press lawmakers to pass a pending bill that would let tribes offer mobile sports wagering via tribal-hosted servers.
- Current Wisconsin law limits gambling and sports betting to tribal casinos, and tribes argue a mobile option would extend legal oversight to activity already happening online.
- Boyd framed the measure as consumer protection and economic development, citing the Ho-Chunk Nation’s lawsuit against Kalshi and estimates of hundreds of millions spent on unregulated platforms.
- She called for stronger safeguards for natural resources, saying projects such as the Line 5 reroute must be held to rigorous ecological standards to protect water.
- Addressing a youth mental health and substance-use crisis, she highlighted a new 36-bed Adolescent Recovery and Wellness Center in Shawano County and urged expanded culturally relevant care.