Indian Gaming

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) says the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe should be the "first option" for a casino in the southeastern region of the state.

H.3702 authorizes three casinos in different regions of the state. Region C is supposed to be reserved for "a federally recognized tribe" but the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is threatening to open the process up to non-Indian bidders.

"The Expanded Gaming Act calls for a tribal facility to be the first option in Southeastern Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission's preliminary discussions don't change that fact," a spokesman for the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development told The Cape Cod Times in response.

The tribe's land-into-trust application is being processed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. A new Class III gaming compact, to replace one that the BIA rejected, is also on the table.

"The fact of the matter is we are ahead of every other potential development in Massachusetts," Chairman Cedric Cromwell told the Times.

K.G. Urban Enterprises, a non-Indian developer, wants to submit a bid for Region C and has a lawsuit pending in federal court that challenges the tribal provisions of the gaming law. A hearing is scheduled for December 17, The New Bedford Standard-Times reported.

Get the Story:
Analysis: Mashpee tribe poised to lose certain bet (The Cape Cod Times 12/6)
Casino developer, tribe to go head to head in court (The New Bedford Standard-Times 12/6)

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Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe asserts exclusive rights for casino (12/5)