This Poconos casino, a 90-minute drive from Monticello, will have table games by mid-July

MONTICELLO – With the advent of table gaming at nearby Pennsylvania casinos, time is of the essence to approve full casino gaming in Sullivan County, Congressman Maurice Hinchey said.

Hinchey and US Senator Charles Schumer have been trying to convince Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to reverse a decision from the Bush administration that does not allow for Native American casinos on off-reservation lands. That would be the case at the proposed facility at Monticello Gaming and Raceway, which currently only has electronic video lottery machines.

Hinchey said bringing casinos to Sullivan County would be a boon to the regional economy.

“This process in Sullivan County would generate a whole host of jobs; it would bring back hotels that would be very effective, and a number of other issues that would upgrade the entire quality of that county in a very substantial and very effective way,” he said.

Several months ago, the Interior Department’s director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Larry EchoHawk, came to Monticello to meet with top local officials, tour the casino site and discuss the issue.