Artist's rendering of proposed First Light Resort and Casino. Image from Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe of Massachusetts is hoping to break ground later this year on its long-planned casino. The tribe announced the project in August 2007. More than five years later, the tribe finally has a Class III gaming compact that has been deemed approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The compact requires the tribe to share 21 percent of revenues with the state. The rate will drop to 17 percent once another casino opens elsewhere in the state and to 15 percent if a non-Indian slot machine parlor opens in southeastern Massachusetts. The tribe won't have to share revenues at all if a non-Indian casino opens in the southeastern region. That's a plausible scenario since the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has accepted one non-Indian bid for the region. A bigger hurdle remains with the land-into-trust process. The BIA has published a draft environmental impact statement for the $500 million First Light Resort and Casino but there is no timeline for approval. “We’re moving forward,” Chairman Cedric Cromwell said in a statement, according to news reports. “We’re hoping to put a shovel in the ground this year.” Get the Story:
Tribe touts federal OK of compact (The Cape Cod Times 1/4)
Tribe, guv claim compact has been okayed (State House News Service 1/4)
Tribal casino compact gets green light (The Taunton Daily Gazette 1/4)
Feds OK Mashpee pact with Mass. on casino (The Boston Herald 1/4)
Federal agency OK’s Mashpee Wampanoag casino compact (The Boston Globe 1/4)
Agency’s implicit OK opens way for tribe’s Taunton, Mass., casino (AP 1/4)
Mass. tribe's compact passes BIA (The New London Day 1/4) Federal Register Notice:
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Fee-to-Trust Transfer of Property and Subsequent Development of a Resort/Hotel and Tribal Government Facilities by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe (November 15, 2013)
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