Casino payments that have long helped fund Michigan’s economic development agency are plunging as more Native American tribes withhold tens of millions of dollars from the state, a factor in layoffs that were disclosed this month.
The gambling money goes to the Michigan Strategic Fund and therefore helps fund the Michigan Economic Development Corp. [MEDC], which administers the state’s economic development programs. Its rapid decline is raising questions about the long-term stability of MEDC funding as the agency also faces legislative scrutiny and cuts to state appropriations.
Michigan’s 12 federally recognized tribes operate 24 casinos.
Three tribes have halted their payments since 2025, contending Michigan — by expanding gambling — violated exclusivity provisions in compacts that protect them from competition in exchange for sharing casino revenue with the state.
