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Tribal preference in casino legislation
USS-Mass is asking for people to sign this petition which calls for an independent cost/benefit analysis of casinos and slots.
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Now back to the post.
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Adam Bond floats some interesting ideas about the latest developments in the Middleboro casino saga:
Bond has a point in that the bill repeatedly mentions Bristol County as the location for any indian casino.
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The bill mentioned in the post outlines the sort of preference that would be given to any casino with an indian component:
I read this legalize as saying that to get a preference, the tribe must have trust land eligible for gaming under IGRA and agree to a fully commercial casino in Bristol County. Trust land is a very tall order thanks to Carcier v. Salazar which means that no Indian tribe is going to get a preference for anything.
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This is a great example of what the BOS is NOT doing and HAVE NOT done since the IGA was signed in July 2007. No matter how things change, what events occur, or what Supreme Court decisions come down, the Middleboro selectmen do nothing. In this week’s Gazette, along with my wonderful column, is an editorial from Jane Lopoes that wonders why the heck the BOS aren’t calling the tribe given the events in Fall River recently.
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Why indeed.
This is not a mystery. Pacheco, Menard (Fall River, Freetown) are big casino cheerleaders, see it as economic development (which it’s not) and naturally want a casino in the more depressed areas of their districts like Fall River and Taunton.
It’s also comforting to see that the Middleboro Board of selectman are still as comatose as ever. Whenever they perk up, bad things (like casino agreements) seem to happen.
And yes, there’s a lot of “ifs” in that bill. Maybe if the Enterprise had bothered to seek the opposition view, the article would have reflected that, as you have here. But then, the article wouldn’t have packed that all-important punch of inevitability they’re shooting for.
In other states where the tribe cherry picks a location for an Indian casino, has the land put into trust (without having historical ties to said land) and builds a Class III casino with little or no input from the state or local community, its called RESERVATION SHOPPING.
When the State of Massachusetts does it, we call it LEGISLATION.
Hey Gov, we don’t like it when the tribe does it, what makes you think we’re going to like it when you do it?