Tallahassee -- With the federal government looking over their shoulders, Gov. Charlie Crist and the Seminole Tribe of Florida are crafting a deal that would allow not just Las Vegas-style slot machines on reservations but also possibly table games such as blackjack, craps and roulette. The Interior Department on June 22 gave Crist 60 days to reach an agreement that would allow the tribe to offer the same type of slots now permitted at four Broward County parimutuel sites.
Garden Grove - An Indian tribe has formally proposed building a Las Vegas-style casino complex in hopes of making Garden Grove a tourist destination. The Gabrielino-Tongva Tribe's proposal calls for two casinos with 7,500 slot machines, two upscale hotels and a 10,000-seat stadium. It also promises a college scholarship for every high school graduate in Garden Grove, USD 5.1 billion to the city over 30 years, payment of USD 100 million for infrastructure improvements and nearly 10,000 permanent jobs.
Voters in Middleborough today approved a historic agreement to bring the state's first casino to the semi-rural town 40 miles south of Boston. By a margin of 2,387 to 1,335, voters approved the agreement between town selectmen and the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe that calls for the town to receive at least USD $ 11 million a year for hosting the USD 1 billion resort casino.
The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians along with two other tribes reached the end of a campaign to expand their tribal casinos when the governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed bills ratifying revised gambling agreements. The four bills signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will allow the Agua Caliente and Morongo tribes alone to add up to 8,500 new slot machines.
Sacramento -- The Legislature removed a key hurdle to passing a state budget Thursday, agreeing to allow four Indian tribes to expand casino gambling in exchange for hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to the state. The action ended what had been a lengthy legislative logjam that pitted two special interest titans: labor groups vs. casino-operating Indian tribes. The tribes won.
Topeka, Kansas -- The four American Indian tribes that run casinos in Kansas are discussing ways to respond to competition if state-owned gaming complexes open in a few years. Three of the tribes are planning to bid on the state-owned casinos to keep as many customers as possible, while a fourth is considering suing the state to stop expansion of gambling in Kansas.
The California Senate approved the largest expansion of Indian gambling in the state since tribes were given the authority to operate casinos. The agreements now go to the Assembly. If passed, tribes would be allowed to operate an additional 22,500 new slots, the equivalent of more than 10 Las Vegas-sized casinos.
