The Obama administration has set the stage for the development of new casinos by abolishing a Bush-era directive that said Indian tribes could develop casinos off their reservations only if they were within commuting distance. Instead, the administration is reverting back to a policy that considers off-reservation casinos on a case-by-case basis.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the shift in policy is likely to breathe life back into a number of off-reservation projects around the country, including in New York’s Catskill Mountains. Tribes interested in developing casinos in the Catskills include the St. Regis Mohawks, who at one point were looking at a site attached to a racetrack in Monticello, N.Y., 350 miles away from its reservation. The Wisconsin-based Stockbridge-Munsee tribe has also sought to build a casino in the Catskills.
New York Senator Charles Schumer called the Bureau’s move a “ground-breaking action” that removes “what was an insurmountable hurdle on the path to a Catskills casino.”
Some complained that the ruling isn’t fair to existing gaming facilities operating and investing in New York. New York Gaming Association President James Featherstonhaugh noted that existing gambling operations contributed more than $520 million last year to state education. That figure is expected to grow to $850 million with the opening later this year of New York City’s first casino at Aqueduct racetrack in Queens. [WSJ]
