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House may fast-track Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe bill

By Tanner Stening
Posted Mar 18, 2019

MASHPEE — Under a suspension of the rules, the U.S. House of Representatives will look to fast-track a bill aimed at ending a legal challenge to the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s reservation, according to sources close to the process.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act could be taken up by lawmakers as early as Monday, the sources said. The bill was reintroduced in January by Rep. William Keating, D-Mass., after floundering in the previous legislative session.

Bills considered under a suspension of the rules require a two-thirds supermajority vote of lawmakers present for passage, are limited to 40 minutes of debate and cannot be amended on the House floor.

In a statement issued Monday, Keating expressed optimism about the process.

“I have been working with members across the aisle, with members in both parties on the committee of jurisdiction, and with Democratic leaders in charge of floor action,” Keating said. “I feel very positive about the bill’s progress toward a vote.”

The bill would end ongoing litigation challenging the Mashpee tribe’s reservation by reaffirming the land and barring any legal challenges to it in the future.

In 2016, a lawsuit brought by neighbors of the tribe’s proposed $1 billion casino in Taunton resulted in the Department of the Interior reversing a decision it made the year before to take 321 acres of land into trust on the tribe’s behalf.

A federal judge ruled that the secretary of Interior did not have the authority to take the land into trust because the tribe was not under federal jurisdiction at the time of the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act in 1934, and therefore did not qualify under a definition of “Indian” used by the Interior Department.

On Sept. 7, the agency reversed its finding, throwing the future of the tribe’s reservation into jeopardy — though it remains in trust until a final court order is issued. The tribe has since filed a lawsuit against the agency challenging that decision.

The move by House Democrats to put the bill on a fast track to passage comes amid increasing political turmoil among tribal leaders. This week, tribal council will vote to expel three of its members for a variety of complaints that stem from accountability concerns brought to light by the accused leaders. They claim the charges amount to retaliation.

Should the bill succeed in Congress and be signed into law, its passage couldn’t be more timely for the tribe, which is contending with a final installment of loan dollars from its financial backer, Genting Malaysia, according to one source familiar with the tribe’s finances.

Expenditures in 2018 left the tribe with $83,670 in its general fund, according to a statement of its expenses and revenue for the year obtained by the Times.

Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Chairman Cedric Cromwell said in a statement that he applauds the “bipartisan effort to protect our reservation ... by moving our bill expeditiously through the House Committee of Natural Resources.”

“The honorable Congressman Keating has led this endeavor and told our story throughout the halls of Congress,” he said, thanking the committee leadership.

The possible House vote also comes after the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) — a sister tribe of the Mashpee tribe — declared its opposition to the legislation. In a letter sent to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission dated Jan. 22, Aquinnah Tribal Chairwoman Cheryl Andrews-Maltais said the bill’s passage would have a “very real potential to have a serious adverse effect” on her tribe’s ability to acquire additional land within the Wampanoag Nation’s ancestral territory.

The legislation is backed by Taunton and Mashpee. On Monday, Mashpee Town Manager Rodney Collins said he appreciates “all the efforts to move this bill along.”

“I am hopeful that the bill receives congressional approval, whether through the House or the Senate,” he said.

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