Column: No mention of Catskills casino in stimulus

Tuesday, February 3, 2009  

"A group led by Thompson Supervisor Tony Cellini wrote a letter last week to Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, and other members of the Congressional delegation seeking to clear the way for a Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohicans casino in Bridgeville.

The group wanted to have language included in the stimulus bill essentially trying to codify a deal that would speed the casino forward.

In return for dropping a federal lawsuit against the Interior Department and a land claim, the Wisconsin-based tribe could open a full-service casino after completing a few more steps. They've been working on a casino for nearly a decade.

Schumer said he would take a look at the proposal, but also mentioned it couldn't be included in the stimulus package.

"This proposal is brand new — we just learned about this late last week when we received the letter in the mail," Schumer said in a prepared statement. "The land into trust process is very complicated, and we cannot act on it hastily, but of course we will give a very serious look to this proposal. In addition, because of the president's commitment that this bill will exclude specific earmarks, it would be impossible to put a provision like this in the federal economic stimulus package which is before the Senate this week.""

Get the Story:
Catskill Confidential: No mention of casino to be put into stimulus bill (The Middletown Times Herald-Record 2/3)