11.15.07
Casino proposals for Port Huron, Romulus on hold
By TODD SPANGLER
FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF
WASHINGTON – A couple of proposals to allow Indian casinos in Port Huron and Romulus are on hold again.
Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, a Detroit Democrat who opposes the legislation which would let Indian tribes open the new casinos, asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to intervene in today’s scheduled committee meeting on the bills, saying they should at least get a public hearing.
The speaker apparently did so and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall of West Virginia pulled the bills off his hearing list, saying there’s apparently “disagreements within the delegation” from Michigan.
Indeed there is.
A handful of House members – John Dingell of Dearborn, Bart Stupak of Menominee and Candice Miller of Harrison Township – are in favor of the legislation which would settle land claims by the Bay Mills and Sault Ste Marie tribes and put casinos in two cities which say they need them for economic development. Most of the rest are against it, including Kilpatrick and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers.
“The rest of us, we don’t want any other casinos in Michigan,” said Kilpatrick, who added that she believes she needs to protect the interests of Detroit’s three casinos as well.
The legislation could resurface after the first of the year.
“I’ll get it done,” said Stupak, a Democrat whose district includes the home area of the Bay Mills Indian Community. “I’ve been working on this for 10 years. I’ll get it done.”
Contact TODD SPANGLER at 202-906-8203 or at tspangler@freepress.com
By TODD SPANGLER
FREE PRESS WASHINGTON STAFF
WASHINGTON – A couple of proposals to allow Indian casinos in Port Huron and Romulus are on hold again.
Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, a Detroit Democrat who opposes the legislation which would let Indian tribes open the new casinos, asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to intervene in today’s scheduled committee meeting on the bills, saying they should at least get a public hearing.
The speaker apparently did so and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall of West Virginia pulled the bills off his hearing list, saying there’s apparently “disagreements within the delegation” from Michigan.
Indeed there is.
A handful of House members – John Dingell of Dearborn, Bart Stupak of Menominee and Candice Miller of Harrison Township – are in favor of the legislation which would settle land claims by the Bay Mills and Sault Ste Marie tribes and put casinos in two cities which say they need them for economic development. Most of the rest are against it, including Kilpatrick and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers.
“The rest of us, we don’t want any other casinos in Michigan,” said Kilpatrick, who added that she believes she needs to protect the interests of Detroit’s three casinos as well.
The legislation could resurface after the first of the year.
“I’ll get it done,” said Stupak, a Democrat whose district includes the home area of the Bay Mills Indian Community. “I’ve been working on this for 10 years. I’ll get it done.”
Contact TODD SPANGLER at 202-906-8203 or at tspangler@freepress.com
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