From How Appealing:
“Kennedy predicts ‘Carcieri fix’ bill might pass”: Today’s edition of The Providence (R.I.) Journal contains an article that begins, “Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy said Thursday that a bill to reverse a U.S. Supreme Court decision blocking special land status for the Narragansett Indian tribe could become law during this Congress.”
From ProJo:
WASHINGTON — Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy said Thursday that a bill to reverse a U.S. Supreme Court decision blocking special land status for the Narragansett Indian tribe could become law during this Congress.
Democrat Kennedy also declared his support for such legislation — the only member of Rhode Island’s congressional delegation to do so.
Enactment of the legislation — which may have implications for tribes across the country — is “likely to happen” if supporters of the measure are able to attach it to a major piece of legislation that is certain to pass both houses of Congress, Kennedy said.
That was the Rhode Island Democrat’s brightest forecast to date for legislation that has come to be known as “the Carcieri fix,” in reference to the U.S. Supreme Court decision, named for Governor Carcieri, that went against the Narragansetts last winter.
The Supreme Court ruled that the Narragansetts were ineligible to have a piece of land taken into federal trust because that special status was available only to tribes recognized by the federal government as of 1934. Tribal lands that are taken into federal trust are removed from the jurisdiction of local and state laws and taxes.
Other members of the state’s congressional delegation have raised concerns that trust status could open the door to casino gambling on Narragansett land. The tribe asserts that it wants to build housing on the parcel at issue in the Supreme Court case.
Kennedy predicted, however, that the tribe will never win casino gambling rights in Rhode Island unless state officials, including the congressional delegation, agree to it.
Turtle Talk 