Indian organization urges Zinke to act on tribes' gaming amendments
The National Congress of American Indians has asked U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to act on the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes’ amended gaming agreements with the state, action considered critical to the tribes’ ability to move forward with a casino project in East Windsor.
In a news release Thursday, the NCAI announced it sent a letter to Zinke, urging him to publish notice of the amendments in the Federal Register, the daily journal of the U.S. government.
“These amendments are very important to economic development for both tribal governments as well as the State of Connecticut, and publication of amended compacts is within your duties under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act,” the NCAI says in its letter. “We urge you to act with dispatch.”
“Under federal law, the Secretary’s publication of gaming compacts is not discretionary,” the NCAI says. “The Secretary may disapprove a compact only if it violates federal law or the trust obligations of the United States. If the Secretary does not approve or disapprove a compact within 45 days, the compact shall be considered to have been approved. At that time, the Secretary is required by law to act ...”
The law requires the secretary to publish notice of any tribal-state compact that is approved, or considered to have been approved, the NCAI says.
The state and the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes have sued the Interior Department and Zinke over the department’s inaction, and members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation have asked the department’s Office of Inspector General to investigate.
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