Critics of a compact inked by Gov. Deval Patrick and the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe this week to build a casino in Taunton said yesterday they fear the deal may collapse in Washington and result in lengthy lawsuits — even if it passes muster in the State House.
“The tribe faces insurmountable obstacles to getting land placed in trust by the federal government by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act,” said state Rep. Robert M. Koczera (D-New Bedford). “We’re not talking about tribal gaming occurring months or even a year after the other casinos. We are talking about decades after commercial casinos are open in Massachusetts. We cannot afford to wait months and years from today. ... We’re suffering. We’re hurting economically.”
Cedric Cromwell, chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoags, and state Rep. Shaunna O’Connell (D-Taunton) insist the tribe’s plan to build a casino in a Taunton industrial park is ready to go and it could be open by early 2015.
In order for that to happen, the tribe needs the federal government to take over a parcel of land and turn that into tribal property, a process that Cromwell said is well under way.
“We have made historic, swift progress toward our land being taken into trust by the secretary of the interior,” Cromwell said. “We are literally years ahead of any other project in the commonwealth and we are poised to create thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in economic growth.”
Cromwell made his promise at the Massachusetts Gaming Commission hearing yesterday at Bristol Community College.
The compact gives the tribe the right to operate a casino as long as it turns over up to 21 percent of the revenue.
The deal must still be approved on Beacon Hill and there’s still a chance the casino license in the region may be opened up for other bidders. Gaming commissioners said they will vote on whether to open the area to commercial licenses in the coming weeks.
O’Connell said construction of the casino will create 1,000 jobs, with the gaming business adding 2,500 more openings while making southeastern Massachusetts a destination for tourism. She urged that the tribe be given time to work out any legal issues.
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