“Update on Proposed Class II Gaming Regulations,” DesRosiers, Knudson & McBride, INDIAN GAMING magazine 34-42 (April 2008)
gaming
Editorial on Penn. Supreme Court re: Casino Regulation
From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Whenever casino owners go before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, it would be easier if Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille kept a rubber stamp handy that said “APPROVED.”
That would save time, trouble and the pretense of impartiality, since the outcome of casino cases before the high court have been a foregone conclusion. Whatever the casino owners need, Castille and his robed colleagues are there to please.
Last week, the court swept aside Philadelphia’s authority to oversee details involving the Foxwoods project on the Delaware River in South Philadelphia [Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners v. Phila. City Council, majority opinion, concurring opinion]. Talk about a one-stop approval process. Who knew Castille & Co. were also planning, traffic, safety and zoning experts?
Tribal Amicus Brief Supporting Kickapoo v. Texas Cert Petition
Several tribes — Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas, Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Coquille Indian Tribe, Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians, Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe, Spokane Tribe of Indians, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe — filed a joint amicus brief supporting the Kickapoo Tribe’s cert petition over the Secretarial procedures for establishing Class III gaming compacts, a rule struck down by the Fifth Circuit a few months ago. Here is the Tribal Amicus Brief. Here is the link to the Kickapoo cert petition. The State’s cert opposition is due later this month.
It is significant, of course, that the United States did not file a cert petition.
News Coverage of BMIC/Sault Tribe Off-Rez Gaming Bills
From the Detroit Free Press:
WASHINGTON – The House Judiciary Committee is set to work on a couple of bills on Wednesday that would allow for two new Indian casinos in Michigan – even though another committee has already approved them.
It could set up an interesting jurisdictional question for the House.
A couple months ago, the Natural Resources Committee voted overwhelmingly in favor of the two pieces of legislation, which would authorize land swaps with two tribes, resulting in new casinos in Romulus and Port Huron. That vote was expected to send the bills to the House floor.
Mohegan Sun Expansion to Use Union Labor
From Indianz:
The Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut has agreed to use union labor for the $1 billion expansion of the Mohegan Sun Casino.
The tribe and the New London-Norwich Building and Construction Trades Council came to a project labor agreement. It’s the first formal deal of its kind, The Hartford Courant reported. The union has agreed to respect tribal law and sovereignty. The union recently opposed a bill that would have forced tribal casinos to ban smoking wherever liquor is served. The tribe is adding a hotel tower, more gaming space, a House of Blues music hall, shopping, and bars and restaurants to the casino.
Coverage of Keno Settlement
From Crain’s Detroit Business:
LANSING — State economic-development officials are cheering the settlement of a long-running legal dispute and renewal of a key revenue stream to the state.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm, the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians and the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians on Friday announced the resolution of a federal lawsuit that involved the tribes’ obligation to share casino revenue with the state.
The tribes had halted payments in 2004. But under the settlement, tribal revenue-sharing will resume and the state will also receive about $26 million in previous payments that the tribes had put into escrow.
It’s good news to the Michigan Economic Development Corp., where tribal casino money pays for a variety of MEDC activities and nearly a third of MEDC employees’ salaries and benefits.
Foxwoods Appeal Filed
Parks v. Tulalip — Sovereign Immunity of Tribal Casino
Here are the materials in Parks v. Tulalip Resort Casino, in which the district court for the Western District of Washington dismissed a tort claim against the casino on the grounds of sovereign immunity.
Parks Opposition to Motion to Dismiss
Clash of Titans over Off-Rez Gaming in Michigan: Dingell v. Conyers!
From The Hill:
Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) is clashing with Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.) over the thorny issue of Indian gambling, setting up a standoff between two of the oldest bulls in Congress.
Conyers has stepped into an Indian gambling dispute that is dividing the Michigan delegation and the Democratic Caucus. After teaming up with Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.), who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), the 22-term House veteran has used his position as chairman of the powerful Judiciary Committee to oppose two bills that would settle tribal land disputes and clear the way for new casinos to be built near both lawmakers’ Detroit-area districts.
Conyers argues that the bills would change the way casinos are approved by allowing Congress to get involved in land dispute claims that the U.S. Department of the Interior routinely determines. He also cites the concern that the casinos would be located more than 350 miles from the tribes’ reservations.
Keno Case Settled
From the Traverse City Record-Eagle:
TRAVERSE CITY — A settlement in a three-year-old lawsuit between the state and two northern Michigan Indian tribes will reduce Michigan’s cut of tribal gambling money, but will shake loose millions in escrowed state revenue.
The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Petoskey and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians in Manistee approved a settlement with the state to end a long-running dispute over the Michigan Lottery’s Club Keno game.
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