On Tuesday, Larry Echo Hawk, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Dept. of the Interior, announced that the department was rescinding a Bush-era rule that prohibited off-reservation casinos that were far from a tribe's reservation. That rule, adopted in 2008, has largely kept casino plans from moving forward here in Sullivan County.
Rescinding the rule doesn't mean that there will be a slew of quick approvals for off-reservation casinos here or elsewhere. A tribe has to go through an application process that takes into account the interests of the tribe and the surrounding community.
This 180 degree turnaround by the federal government casts the proposed Capelli-Concord-Mohegan Sun project in an entirely new light. With the possiblity of an actual tribal casino, will they delay doing anything in the short term, and not proceed with the harness track-racino step announced last week?
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