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The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe sacrificed their sovereignty at usury rates to Genting.
Mashpee tribe approves new compact for Taunton casino
TAUNTON —
Under the terms of a new casino tribal compact, the state would collect 21 percent of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe’s gross gaming revenue, but would see that share drop to zero if it authorizes another casino in southeastern Massachusetts.
The Mashpee, who hope to open a casino in Taunton, approved the new compact Tuesday night in a Tribal Council meeting. Approval of a compact is one step the tribe must clear if it is to open a casino under federal law.
“This is another step forward toward our goal of bringing jobs and economic development to our Tribe, Taunton and Southeastern Massachusetts,” Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell said in an email distributed Tuesday night to members of the tribe, adding that he would reveal details Wednesday.
The compact is subject to approval by the state legislature and the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, the latter of which rejected a previous compact the state and tribe reached last year. Gov. Deval Patrick said last week that his administration had vetted the new compact with the BIA.
The new agreement calls for the tribe to pay the state 21 percent of gross gaming revenue for as long as it has the only casino in Massachusetts, according to a summary of the compact the Taunton Daily Gazette obtained from a state government source. That share drops to 17 percent once a casino opens in another part of the state and declines by another 2 percent if a slots parlor opens in southeastern Massachusetts. If another casino opens in the southeastern region, the state will not collect any gaming revenue from a Mashpee Wampanoag tribal casino.
The previous compact, which the BIA rejected on the grounds that it wasn’t in the tribe’s best interests, called for the Mashpee to pay the state 21.5 percent of gross gaming revenue, a figure that would drop to 15 percent if another casino were to open in the southeastern region.
The compact approval comes as the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is preparing to meet Thursday to discuss whether to solicit bids for a commercial casino in the region.
The state’s expanded gambling legislation allows for up to one commercial casino to be licensed in each of three regions of Massachusetts, as well as one slots parlor statewide. Under the law, the Gaming Commission will not solicit bids for a commercial casino in the southeastern region unless it determines the Mashpee are unlikely to meet the requirements to open a tribal casino under federal law.
The Mashpee, who hope to open a casino in Taunton, approved the new compact Tuesday night in a Tribal Council meeting. Approval of a compact is one step the tribe must clear if it is to open a casino under federal law.
“This is another step forward toward our goal of bringing jobs and economic development to our Tribe, Taunton and Southeastern Massachusetts,” Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell said in an email distributed Tuesday night to members of the tribe, adding that he would reveal details Wednesday.
The compact is subject to approval by the state legislature and the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, the latter of which rejected a previous compact the state and tribe reached last year. Gov. Deval Patrick said last week that his administration had vetted the new compact with the BIA.
The new agreement calls for the tribe to pay the state 21 percent of gross gaming revenue for as long as it has the only casino in Massachusetts, according to a summary of the compact the Taunton Daily Gazette obtained from a state government source. That share drops to 17 percent once a casino opens in another part of the state and declines by another 2 percent if a slots parlor opens in southeastern Massachusetts. If another casino opens in the southeastern region, the state will not collect any gaming revenue from a Mashpee Wampanoag tribal casino.
The previous compact, which the BIA rejected on the grounds that it wasn’t in the tribe’s best interests, called for the Mashpee to pay the state 21.5 percent of gross gaming revenue, a figure that would drop to 15 percent if another casino were to open in the southeastern region.
The compact approval comes as the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is preparing to meet Thursday to discuss whether to solicit bids for a commercial casino in the region.
The state’s expanded gambling legislation allows for up to one commercial casino to be licensed in each of three regions of Massachusetts, as well as one slots parlor statewide. Under the law, the Gaming Commission will not solicit bids for a commercial casino in the southeastern region unless it determines the Mashpee are unlikely to meet the requirements to open a tribal casino under federal law.
One commercial developer, KG Urban Enterprises, is challenging that provision of the state law in federal court. KG Urban has expressed interest in building a commercial casino on the New Bedford waterfront.
The commission is in the process of reviewing seven commercial casino applications for the two licenses in other regions of the state, as well as four applications for the slots license. One of the slots applicants, Raynham Park, is located in the southeastern region.
The Gaming Commission expects to license the slots parlor late this year and the two casinos in early 2014.
In addition to a compact, a tribe also needs to have reservation land to establish a tribal casino. The Mashpee, who received official federal recognition in 2007, have a land-in-trust application pending with the BIA to establish reservations in Taunton and Mashpee.
In the 2009 Carcieri v. Salazar Supreme Court decision, however, the justices ruled that the government can’t take land in trust to establish reservations for tribes that were not under federal jurisdiction prior to the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act.
Cromwell has said the Mashpee were under federal jurisdiction long before 1934, even though they weren’t federally recognized until 2007.
The BIA has not yet ruled on the tribe’s land-in-trust application.
Read more: http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/x766883256/Mashpee-tribe-approves-new-compact-for-Taunton-casino#ixzz2O4xXXZmK
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