Hint: Maybe someone should review the blanks in the Mashpee Wampanoag Application!
Feds have 45 days to decide fate of Mashpee Wampanoag tribe's Taunton casino compact
Taunton —
Within the next 45 days, the state, the city and the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe should know the fate of the casino compact between the tribe and Massachusetts.
“If this carefully negotiated Compact does not obtain federal approval in the next 45 days, there is no guarantee that the Massachusetts Legislature will approve any changes to this delicately balanced compact,” Gov. Deval Patrick said in an Aug. 31 letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “Federal disapproval would substantially delay, if not forever deny, the Tribe’s entry into the expanded gaming market in the Commonwealth and its ability to pursue this economic development opportunity to provide vital governmental services to its members.”
The governor goes on to urge Salazar to approve the agreement.
The compact, an agreement dictating the terms of a proposed tribal casino in Taunton, was formally submitted to the federal government on Friday and is now subject to a 45-day review process, according to a state press aide. Under the compact, Massachusetts would get 21.5 percent of gross gaming revenue from a Mashpee Wampanoag casino in Taunton. A document the tribe filed for an environmental review predicts $512 million in annual revenue from the casino.
Massachusetts state law taxes commercial, non-tribal casinos at a rate of 25 percent.
“Our Compact reflects a fair, comprehensive bargain struck between the Tribe and the
Commonwealth in what we believe is the unique context of the Commonwealth’s newly enacted legislation to authorize commercial gaming while recognizing the rights of a federally recognized tribe to conduct tribal gaming,” Patrick said in the letter. “The Compact also reflects a good balance of concessions made on the part of both the Commonwealth and the Tribe.”
The Mashpee seek to build a casino on land they have under a purchase agreement in Liberty and Union Industrial Park in East Taunton.
The Massachusetts expanded gambling law allows for the state to license up to three casinos, one in each of three regions. Commercial bids for the southeastern region, however, were frozen out to give an eligible federally recognized American Indian tribe an exclusive first shot at the local casino market.
Patrick has explained that the rationale behind that provision was that the Mashpee, a federally recognized tribe, have a right under federal law to open a casino on sovereign tribal land. He has said he doesn’t think the market could handle a fourth casino in Massachusetts without suffering from over saturation. The tribe, though, is currently without sovereign land, but has an application pending for the Department of the Interior to take land in Taunton and Mashpee into trust.
“If this carefully negotiated Compact does not obtain federal approval in the next 45 days, there is no guarantee that the Massachusetts Legislature will approve any changes to this delicately balanced compact,” Gov. Deval Patrick said in an Aug. 31 letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. “Federal disapproval would substantially delay, if not forever deny, the Tribe’s entry into the expanded gaming market in the Commonwealth and its ability to pursue this economic development opportunity to provide vital governmental services to its members.”
The governor goes on to urge Salazar to approve the agreement.
The compact, an agreement dictating the terms of a proposed tribal casino in Taunton, was formally submitted to the federal government on Friday and is now subject to a 45-day review process, according to a state press aide. Under the compact, Massachusetts would get 21.5 percent of gross gaming revenue from a Mashpee Wampanoag casino in Taunton. A document the tribe filed for an environmental review predicts $512 million in annual revenue from the casino.
Massachusetts state law taxes commercial, non-tribal casinos at a rate of 25 percent.
“Our Compact reflects a fair, comprehensive bargain struck between the Tribe and the
Commonwealth in what we believe is the unique context of the Commonwealth’s newly enacted legislation to authorize commercial gaming while recognizing the rights of a federally recognized tribe to conduct tribal gaming,” Patrick said in the letter. “The Compact also reflects a good balance of concessions made on the part of both the Commonwealth and the Tribe.”
The Mashpee seek to build a casino on land they have under a purchase agreement in Liberty and Union Industrial Park in East Taunton.
The Massachusetts expanded gambling law allows for the state to license up to three casinos, one in each of three regions. Commercial bids for the southeastern region, however, were frozen out to give an eligible federally recognized American Indian tribe an exclusive first shot at the local casino market.
Patrick has explained that the rationale behind that provision was that the Mashpee, a federally recognized tribe, have a right under federal law to open a casino on sovereign tribal land. He has said he doesn’t think the market could handle a fourth casino in Massachusetts without suffering from over saturation. The tribe, though, is currently without sovereign land, but has an application pending for the Department of the Interior to take land in Taunton and Mashpee into trust.
Within the next 45 days, the state, the city and the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe should know the fate of the casino compact between the tribe and Massachusetts.
“If this carefully negotiated Compact does not obtain federal approval in the next 45 days, there is no guarantee that the Massachusetts Legislature will approve any changes to this delicately balanced compact,” Gov. Deval Patrick said in an Aug. 31 letter to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.
As Middleboro's Nosy Neighbor said:
“Federal disapproval would substantially delay, if not forever deny, the Tribe’s entry into the expanded gaming market in the Commonwealth and its ability to pursue this economic development opportunity to provide vital governmental services to its members.”
The governor goes on to urge Salazar to approve the agreement.
The compact, an agreement dictating the terms of a proposed tribal casino in Taunton, was formally submitted to the federal government on Friday and is now subject to a 45-day review process, according to a state press aide. Under the compact, Massachusetts would get 21.5 percent of gross gaming revenue from a Mashpee Wampanoag casino in Taunton. A document the tribe filed for an environmental review predicts $512 million in annual revenue from the casino.
Massachusetts state law taxes commercial, non-tribal casinos at a rate of 25 percent.
“Our Compact reflects a fair, comprehensive bargain struck between the Tribe and the Commonwealth in what we believe is the unique context of the Commonwealth’s newly enacted legislation to authorize commercial gaming while recognizing the rights of a federally recognized tribe to conduct tribal gaming,” Patrick said in the letter. “The Compact also reflects a good balance of concessions made on the part of both the Commonwealth and the Tribe.”
The Mashpee seek to build a casino on land they have under a purchase agreement in Liberty and Union Industrial Park in East Taunton.
The Massachusetts expanded gambling law allows for the state to license up to three casinos, one in each of three regions. Commercial bids for the southeastern region, however, were frozen out to give an eligible federally recognized American Indian tribe an exclusive first shot at the local casino market.
Patrick has explained that the rationale behind that provision was that the Mashpee, a federally recognized tribe, have a right under federal law to open a casino on sovereign tribal land. He has said he doesn’t think the market could handle a fourth casino in Massachusetts without suffering from over saturation. The tribe, though, is currently without sovereign land, but has an application pending for the Department of the Interior to take land in Taunton and Mashpee into trust.
Many have pointed to the 2007 Carcieri vs. Salazar Supreme Court decision as a roadblock that could prevent the tribe from getting land sovereignty for a casino, although tribal leaders have said they don’t view the ruling as an obstacle.
If the Massachusetts Gaming Commission determines that the Mashpee do not have a reasonable chance of having the land taken in trust, the southeastern region can be opened up to commercial bidding for a casino license, according to the state law.
A current court case could also impact the tribe’s pursuit of a casino. KG Urban Enterprises, which wants to build a commercial casino on the New Bedford waterfront, claims the portion of the state law that gives the tribe exclusive rights to the casino market in southeastern Massachusetts violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution and puts the region at a competitive disadvantage.
A U.S. district justice initially ruled against KG Urban, but a judicial panel later instructed the lower court to review the claim.
Many have pointed to the 2007 Carcieri vs. Salazar Supreme Court decision as a roadblock that could prevent the tribe from getting land sovereignty for a casino, although tribal leaders have said they don’t view the ruling as an obstacle.
If the Massachusetts Gaming Commission determines that the Mashpee do not have a reasonable chance of having the land taken in trust, the southeastern region can be opened up to commercial bidding for a casino license, according to the state law.
A current court case could also impact the tribe’s pursuit of a casino. KG Urban Enterprises, which wants to build a commercial casino on the New Bedford waterfront, claims the portion of the state law that gives the tribe exclusive rights to the casino market in southeastern Massachusetts violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution and puts the region at a competitive disadvantage.
A U.S. district justice initially ruled against KG Urban, but a judicial panel later instructed the lower court to review the claim.
Read more: http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/x2130008851/Feds-have-45-days-to-decide-fate-of-Mashpee-Wampanoag-tribes-Taunton-casino-compact#ixzz25EueswKG
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