PROVIDENCE — Governor Chafee would oppose the passage by Congress of any federal legislation “that would open the door to a federal Indian casino operating in Charlestown.”

But this was the response from his spokesman when asked on Friday if Chafee would oppose federal legislation that opened the way for the state’s Narragansett Indians to take a different piece of property — the Twin River slot parlor in Lincoln — into trust to pursue their dream of running a casino:

“The governor continues to believe that any expansion of gaming at Twin River or Newport Grand should include involvement of the Narragansett Indian Tribe.”
Asked to put that statement in perspective, in light of the legislation up for consideration by the U.S. Senate, spokesman Michael Trainor said: “The governor has nothing to add to this statement.”

Without dissent Thursday, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee cleared for full Senate action a bill that would let the Narragansett Indians — and potentially many other tribes — win federal land trust status to exempt property from most state and local taxes and laws.

Specifically, the measure would undo the high court’s ruling more than two years ago that the Narragansetts were ineligible for the modern trust system, created in 1934, because they were not a federally recognized tribe at the time.

Tribal advocates around the country have argued that the court decision, which decided a lawsuit brought by then-Gov. Donald L. Carcieri to forestall the grant of trust status, could affect many tribes which, like the Narragansetts, have won recognition in recent decades.

The Narragansetts bought the 32-acre parcel of Charlestown land at issue years ago, asserting that they wanted to develop housing on it.

But the tribe has also long sought rights to casino gambling — the use to which many Rhode Island officials fear the land would be put if it were taken into federal trust.

Rhode Island’s Constitution requires would-be casino proprietors to secure the approval of voters in a statewide referendum. Federal trust status would exempt the Narragansetts from that requirement.

The federal measure has strong opposition, including that of Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Rep. James R. Langevin, whose district includes the tribe and its neighbors.

Chafee’s position is less clear, given his repeated statements of support for a tribal role in any expansion at the privately owned Twin River, which is home to more than 4,700 video-gambling machines placed there by the state Lottery.
The tribe, whose previous casino bids were defeated by voters, has no role at Twin River now, though the state does give it a small slice of the revenue under a 2005 deal hammered out by lawmakers.

The amount paid to the tribe for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2010, was $697,622. The projected amount this year: $721,854.

Critics warn that a tribal takeover of Twin River could cost the state upward of $100 million in gambling revenue because of caps the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act places on payments to states. Rhode Island currently keeps 61 cents out of every lost gambling dollar.

On a related note, Trainor said the Chafee administration is still reviewing the responses it got Monday to its request-for-information on how much it might cost the state to hire a consultant to study the economics — and potential social costs — of allowing more gambling opportunities in the state where video slots are already the third-largest source of revenue for state government.
In 2010, the two existing video-slot parlors — Twin River and Newport Grand — produced a total of $289.1 million for the state treasury.

The state got five responses, which it has not yet made public. In its original posting, the administration stated it intent to issue a formal request-for-proposals this coming Monday, but Trainor said: “We are still reviewing the responses … Consequently, we will not be issuing the RFP on Monday. I will let you know when I have any updates.”