Post by Moon Seeker on Jun 10, 2008 11:10:50 GMT -5
By Stephanie Vosk
svosk@capecodonline.com
June 10, 2008
A Class II casino will remain a bargaining chip, but the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe still hopes a more comprehensive Class III casino is in the cards.
The National Indian Gaming Commission last week announced it is scrapping plans to further distinguish between so-called "bingo slots" and other Class II machines and Las Vegas-style, or Class III games.
The proposed changes had drawn criticism from tribes across the country. A report by a leading analyst of the economics of Indian gambling showed Indian casinos nationwide stood to lose anywhere from $576 million to $1.8 billion in annual revenue if the regulations were accepted.
This loss in revenue could have dealt a blow to the Wampanoag. The tribe is arguing that the state must allow full-scale games, or the tribe will build a casino full of "bingo slots" that would presumably be profitable for the tribe but not the state.
The commission's decision to pull the regulations is good for the Mashpee tribe because it takes away the immediate likelihood that these machines won't be available, said Kathryn Rand, an Indian gambling expert at the University of North Dakota. However, more proposed changes could come up in the future, she said.
"I don't think we've seen the end of the possibility of either federal regulations or federal legislation, which could be much worse, to address the issue," Rand said. "I'd expect this to continue to be a politically controversial area."
Seminole tribe's empire
The Seminole tribe of Florida built its empire on these machines. That tribe's seven casinos, combined with another tribe's facility, brought in $1.6 billion in 2006.
Poker is also a Class II game, and there's a chance the tribe may be able to argue that it can operate other table games as well, said Clyde Barrow, a gambling expert at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.
"You throw all those games into the mix, with some retail and a hotel, you have a casino," Barrow said.
Compacts with states, which typically include some kind of revenue-sharing agreement, are required only for Class III casinos. Those casinos, however, are still generally more profitable.
In 2006, Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut brought in $2.4 billion combined.
The Mashpee tribe is still aiming for a Class III facility in Middleboro, where an environmental review is ongoing for the tribe's land-into-trust application, tribal council spokesman Scott Ferson said yesterday.
Tribal Council Chairman Shawn Hendricks "has always felt confidently, based on the conversations (he's) had with folks at the state, that the tribe will ask and will be able to negotiate a Class III facility," Ferson said.
Gov. Deval Patrick spent the fall and winter pushing a bill for commercial casinos that would have effectively legalized full-scale gambling, which showed his willingness to accept a destination resort, Ferson said.
Patrick offered the tribe preference on a commercial casino license if it chose to forgo the Indian casino route, but the bill was overwhelmingly defeated in the House before any decisions could be made.
If and when a compact is negotiated, it will need the approval of the state Legislature, Hendricks and the governor's administration said in March.
More regulations
Another set of regulations — this one published by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Federal Register in May — also further clarifies what the road ahead for the Wampanoag will look like.
The regulations spell out as law many of the practices the Department of the Interior has informally followed over the years, Rand said.
Under the laws, a newly recognized tribe such as the Mashpee Wampanoag must prove cultural and historic, as well as modern, connections to land on which it hopes to build a casino.
The land must be either near a place where a significant number of tribe members live, within 25 miles of the tribe's headquarters, or the tribe must demonstrate "other factors" that establish a current connection.
Middleboro connections
The Wampanoag headquarters is about 40 miles from Middleboro, but the tribe does lay out an argument for modern connections in its land trust application, saying members do live there and use the lands there for rituals such as "sweat lodges."
Even an intergovernmental agreement, such as the tribe has with Middleboro, could possibly constitute a modern connection, Rand said.
However, in general, the rules leave less to the discretion of the Interior Department and "they definitely will make it harder for any tribe to conduct gaming on newly acquired lands," she said.
www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080610/NEWS/806100321
svosk@capecodonline.com
June 10, 2008
A Class II casino will remain a bargaining chip, but the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe still hopes a more comprehensive Class III casino is in the cards.
The National Indian Gaming Commission last week announced it is scrapping plans to further distinguish between so-called "bingo slots" and other Class II machines and Las Vegas-style, or Class III games.
The proposed changes had drawn criticism from tribes across the country. A report by a leading analyst of the economics of Indian gambling showed Indian casinos nationwide stood to lose anywhere from $576 million to $1.8 billion in annual revenue if the regulations were accepted.
This loss in revenue could have dealt a blow to the Wampanoag. The tribe is arguing that the state must allow full-scale games, or the tribe will build a casino full of "bingo slots" that would presumably be profitable for the tribe but not the state.
The commission's decision to pull the regulations is good for the Mashpee tribe because it takes away the immediate likelihood that these machines won't be available, said Kathryn Rand, an Indian gambling expert at the University of North Dakota. However, more proposed changes could come up in the future, she said.
"I don't think we've seen the end of the possibility of either federal regulations or federal legislation, which could be much worse, to address the issue," Rand said. "I'd expect this to continue to be a politically controversial area."
Seminole tribe's empire
The Seminole tribe of Florida built its empire on these machines. That tribe's seven casinos, combined with another tribe's facility, brought in $1.6 billion in 2006.
Poker is also a Class II game, and there's a chance the tribe may be able to argue that it can operate other table games as well, said Clyde Barrow, a gambling expert at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.
"You throw all those games into the mix, with some retail and a hotel, you have a casino," Barrow said.
Compacts with states, which typically include some kind of revenue-sharing agreement, are required only for Class III casinos. Those casinos, however, are still generally more profitable.
In 2006, Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut brought in $2.4 billion combined.
The Mashpee tribe is still aiming for a Class III facility in Middleboro, where an environmental review is ongoing for the tribe's land-into-trust application, tribal council spokesman Scott Ferson said yesterday.
Tribal Council Chairman Shawn Hendricks "has always felt confidently, based on the conversations (he's) had with folks at the state, that the tribe will ask and will be able to negotiate a Class III facility," Ferson said.
Gov. Deval Patrick spent the fall and winter pushing a bill for commercial casinos that would have effectively legalized full-scale gambling, which showed his willingness to accept a destination resort, Ferson said.
Patrick offered the tribe preference on a commercial casino license if it chose to forgo the Indian casino route, but the bill was overwhelmingly defeated in the House before any decisions could be made.
If and when a compact is negotiated, it will need the approval of the state Legislature, Hendricks and the governor's administration said in March.
More regulations
Another set of regulations — this one published by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Federal Register in May — also further clarifies what the road ahead for the Wampanoag will look like.
The regulations spell out as law many of the practices the Department of the Interior has informally followed over the years, Rand said.
Under the laws, a newly recognized tribe such as the Mashpee Wampanoag must prove cultural and historic, as well as modern, connections to land on which it hopes to build a casino.
The land must be either near a place where a significant number of tribe members live, within 25 miles of the tribe's headquarters, or the tribe must demonstrate "other factors" that establish a current connection.
Middleboro connections
The Wampanoag headquarters is about 40 miles from Middleboro, but the tribe does lay out an argument for modern connections in its land trust application, saying members do live there and use the lands there for rituals such as "sweat lodges."
Even an intergovernmental agreement, such as the tribe has with Middleboro, could possibly constitute a modern connection, Rand said.
However, in general, the rules leave less to the discretion of the Interior Department and "they definitely will make it harder for any tribe to conduct gaming on newly acquired lands," she said.
www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080610/NEWS/806100321