At issue is whether the tribal gaming compact agreed to in 2004 expires on Jan. 1, 2020, or automatically rolls over. The tribes say it rolls over; Stitt maintains it expires — or, as he put it in the letter to the tribes, terminates, on that date.

The compact itself seems a little confusing on that point.

At stake is many millions of dollars in revenue to the tribes and the state. Stitt maintains the exclusivity fees paid by the tribes to the state to keep non-tribal casinos out of the state are too low.

The tribes say otherwise and point out that much of the revenue they derive from gaming ultimately subsidizes services and infrastructure, including roads, schools and health care, that would otherwise fall to the state to provide.

Collectively, the tribes are also among the state’s largest employers.

Each tribe has its own compact with the state but the compacts are identical except for tribal identification. Stitt has said, in effect, he wants to rewrite the template, or “model,” compact negotiated during the early 2000s.