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Source: Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.自存倉Sept. 07--Seemingly out of left field, a committee that has been holding up the casino compact reached between the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and Gov. Deval Patrick for more than four months has finally scheduled a vote on the deal.The Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies is slated to vote Tuesday in executive session on the compact, which would pay the state anywhere from 0 to 21 percent of gross gambling revenue from a Taunton casino based on the level of competition in the commonwealth, Eileen Brooks, a spokeswoman for state Rep. Joseph Wagner, D-Chicopee, co-chairman of the committee, said Friday.The committee heard testimony at a daylong hearing in May. The compact -- the second of its kind for the tribe and Patrick -- was filed with the Legislature in April. The first compact, signed in July 2012, was rejected in October that same year by the federal government.If the committee votes favorably on the new compact, it still must win support of the full House and Senate. That could be a tough sell, since the first compact reached would have paid the state 21.5 percent of gross gambling revenue no matter the level of competition.That deal was rejected by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs for being too lucrative for the state without enough concessions to the tribe.State Rep. Randy Hunt, R-East Sandwich, said the compact faces stiffer odds now that the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is accepting applications from commercial companies to bid for a license in Southeastern Massachusetts. The deadline for applications is Sept. 30."The more time that passes, the more opportunity these commercial proposals have to put together their numbers," Hunt said. "We're going to see an especially stout defense against the 迷你倉新蒲崗ompact by the South Coast reps and senators. Now they can point to other things that are promising to come along that could be more advantageous to the state."State Rep. Robert Koczera, D-New Bedford, an outspoken critic of the compact and a member of the committee that will vote Tuesday, could not be reached for comment Friday.Proponents of the compact are likely to point out that if the tribe succeeds with getting its land in Taunton and Mashpee taken into trust by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, it could open a casino and provide no revenue to the state, Hunt said.The Gaming Commission has gotten "several inquiries" in Southeastern Massachusetts, known as Region C, for the commercial license, spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said. The commission does not expect to receive any applications or the $400,000 fee until the deadline, she said.At least one company, KG Urban Enterprises, is on record as saying it will apply to build a casino on the New Bedford waterfront.Meanwhile, the tribe has reported no progress on its federal process in months, even though it proclaimed loudly in May that a key decision was imminent in the first half of 2013.Judith Goetz, a spokeswoman for the tribe, wrote in an email Friday that Mashpee Wampanoag leaders would have no comment on the legislative committee's coming vote.Once a compact is approved at the state level, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has 45 days to act. Both Patrick and tribe leaders have said they received guidance from bureau officials in crafting the revised compact.Tuesday's committee vote is being held at Western New England University in Springfield, Brooks said.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, Mass.) Visit the Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, Mass.) at .capecodonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉出租