Casino news from http://www.capecodonline.com/
The U.S. House Committee on Resources calls it the RIGHT Act.
But tribal leaders across the country, including Don Widdiss, tribal council chairman of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head on Martha's Vineyard, say the RIGHT Act is all wrong.
On Wednesday, the Resources Committee passed H.R. 4893 by a 27-9 margin. If the bill, titled Restricting Indian Gaming to Homelands of Tribes, is passed by Congress, it would close a loophole in the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act that allows tribes to build off-reservation casinos with permission from the Interior secretary and a state's governor.
Tribes that submitted applications for off-reservation casinos by March 7, 2006 - the day Resources Committee chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., introduced the bill - would be allowed to move forward under a grandfather clause.
The bill also would allow tribes that have been newly recognized by the federal government or that don't have reservation land of their own to seek permission to build casinos. But those tribes would be required to enter a ''memorandum of understanding'' with local communities to ensure the tribe pays for infrastructure, public safety and other services affected by a new casino.
Tribes also could invite other tribes to build casinos on their reservation land and share profits.
Gay Head tribe wary
''If they do anything to change the existing regulations, it will affect us. Whether it's good or bad, we won't know until we have specifics,'' Widdis said.
The Gay Head tribe, which is led by Widdis, has sought to build an off-reservation casino in Southeastern Massachusetts for more than a decade.
There is a possibility the Gay Head tribe could be grand-fathered if the RIGHT Act is adopted, Widdiss said.
Under the federal Indian Gaming Act federally recognized tribes can pursue gaming facilities only in states where similar gaming activities are legal. In April, Bay State lawmakers rejected legislation that would have allowed slot machines at the state's racetracks. Slots are designated as Class III gaming, which opponents said would open the door to Foxwoods-style casinos in the commonwealth if the slot bill passed. It was defeated 100-55.
The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head is the only federally recognized tribe in the state. The Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs gave preliminary approval to the Mashpee Wampanoag's petition for federal recognition just prior to the state Legislature's vote to prohibit Class III gaming. The Interior secretary is expected to make a determination on the Mashpee petition by March 31, 2007, giving the Mashpee tribe the legal right to pursue gaming as a means of tribal economic development.
Mashpee tribal leaders have vowed not to develop a casino anywhere on the Cape but will not rule out the possibility of doing so elsewhere in the state.
Battle in the Bay State
Many expert observers agree that American Indian-owned casinos in Massachusetts are a unlikely anytime in the near future. However, anti-casino critics point to investors such as Detroit real estate and casino developer Herb Strather, who gave the Mashpee tribe several million dollars to underwrite its petition costs, as powerful and wealthy enough to change the political landscape.
The day after the Mashpee tribe received word that their petition had met all the requirements for preliminary federal acknowledgement, Strather told the Times he had a development agreement with the tribe. Strather also spoke of his successful Michigan lobbying efforts, which led to a referendum vote that made Class III gaming legal in that state and paved the way for development of the Motor City Casinos.
Mashpee Tribal Council spokesman Scott Ferson said the tribe does not have any concrete casino plans or land in trust, so it's difficult to know how the RIGHT Act could affect the tribe's future economic development.
The Mashpee tribe's ancestral lands extend as far off-Cape as Rhode Island.
''It would be fair to say that the tribe could very well have land off-Cape in its possession and sovereignty when land is taken into trust,'' Ferson said.
If the tribe receives federal recognition, it will be eligible to request ancestral lands be placed in a federal trust. At some point during that application process, the tribe would have to establish a ''service area'' based on historic settlement patterns. Ferson said it's not clear whether Pombo's bill, in conjunction with the tribe's vow to not build a casino on Cape Cod, would necessarily preclude the tribe from pursuing an off-Cape casino.
Mashpee tribal leaders, who donated $18,000 to Pombo's re-election campaign and affiliated political action committees in 2004 and 2005, have not submitted any comments to the Resources Committee, Ferson said.
National implications
Whether the RIGHT Act becomes law, Widdiss said he sees the proposal as an indication Resources Committee members believe that there are too many American Indian casinos.
''Once tribes become economically successful, it's perceived as a threat by non-Indian enterprises,'' he said. ''I have a big problem with any bill that limits the success of tribes. I would guess a lot of other tribes feel the same way.''
The National Indian Gaming Association, which represents 184 tribes operating gaming facilities, released a statement Wednesday criticizing the proposed RIGHT Act. If passed, the RIGHT Act would reverse 200 years of American Indian policy, according to the statement.
''The bill is wrong because it unfairly does away with the existing provisions that recognize historic Indian land claims, some of which have been pending for decades (and) because landless, restored, and acknowledged tribes will be treated as second-class sovereigns,'' the statement says.
Pombo spokeswoman Melissa Mazzella DeLaney said Wednesday it was unlikely the bill would move any further until sometime in September because Congress was expected to recess yesterday for the next five weeks.
|
|
