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Proposed Tribal Casino still in limbo

Posted on August 13th, 2010

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Negotiations conducted for potential casinos may see the Mashpee Wampanoags getting a clear advantage over the state of Massachusetts, according to casino supporters, especially since the push to expand gambling in the State is waning. One of Native American tribes that have been federally recognized by the state, the Mashpees, is done filing an application to have land in the southeastern portion of Massachusetts in their trust. Once the Mashpees are awarded trust land by the Interior, they could then arrange for the state to build a casino that would house both slot machines and table games; a portion of the revenues from gambling will be given to the state. When these negotiations push through, the tribe will then call for the state to grant them regional exclusivity, which in turn usually translates to the tribes having the sole rights to operating slots and table games in the entire state, or in an area of that state.

Cedric Cromwell, the chairman of the Mashpee tribal Council was quoted in saying that they want to work with the Commonwealth to ensure that the latter will be guaranteed a stream of revenue. With this, the state may opt to grant the tribe regional exclusivity in order to give way to a revenue sharing agreement. This then will block the possibility of the tribe to claim permission, under charity gaming laws of the state, to operate casinos without sharing any income with the state. Stanley Rosenberg (D-Amherst), a state senator who supports casinos, argued that if the Mashpees were to be given regional exclusivity by the state, the size of Massachusetts’ gambling market may shrink. Supporters of gambling in the state estimate that a couple of racinos and three resort-style casinos with locations in Massachusetts can generate up to $400 million for the state, plus an additional 15,000 jobs for its residents. Rosenberg points out that the southeastern portion of Massachusetts may benefit from the economic gains of proposed casinos there, but the rest of the state would fall behind.

Kathryn Rand, co-director of the University of North Dakota’s Institute for the Study of Tribal Gaming Law and Policy said that any agreement between a state and a tribe must be approved by the Secretary of Interior. The Interior Department would also make sure that a provision for the state to be entitled shared revenue should also benefit the tribe, which usually means exclusivity. The Mashpee tribe, aside from planning to open full-scale gambling facilities on tribal land that they would acquire through a trust, may also push through with plans to open an electronic bingo parlor. This bingo parlor is classified as “class 2 gaming,” along with slots parlors, which can be built without regulation or taxation from the state, as guaranteed by the federal-backed IGRA, or the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Rand claims that class 2 gaming would be quite profitable in the state.

For their part, the Mashpees argue that their connection with the federal government dates back to as early as 1934, and they can prove it. They also claim that they have a memo circulated by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in June which states that the Interior Department was still processing applications for land in trust. Cromwell stated that The Department of Interior has clearly expressed its intention to move forward with the issue. Applications for land in trust applications could be processed by the Interior for as short as months to as long as years. Meanwhile, Rosenberg suggests that the state should legalize casino gambling first before the tribe’s land in trust application is approved, so that the state can negotiate whatever effectively without being forced into regional exclusivity. Efforts by the state to legalize casino gambling have reached a stalemate after Gov. Deval Patrick refused to approve a bill already approved by the state legislature on July 31 to license 3 resort-style casinos and 2 racinos. Patrick wanted the racinos stripped out of the bill.

For now, the tribe is amenable to be given a commercial casino license which can later be changed into an IGRA –subjected agreement once the land in trust application is reached. In this plan, a resort-style casino worth $300 million on 300-acre land along Route 24 will be placed. Financial backing will be provided to the tribe by Malaysian-owned Arkana Ltd.