A bill that would have required a comprehensive study of casino gaming in Connecticut before progressing to authorize a third tribal casino was defeated in committee by a vote of 11-7.
This appears to give a green light for a satellite casino in the Hartford area near the state line with Massachusetts.
Rep. Chris Perone, co-chairman of the Commerce Committee, who proposed the study, said, “I’m disappointed,” after the vote. “What I was trying to do was improve our understanding of how an expansion of gaming would affect our economy. I see us expanding casino gaming without doing much due diligence,” he said.
The state’s finances are in jeopardy and Governor Dannel P. Malloy has announced deep budget cuts for this year.
That is the reason that no one wants to mess with revenues from Indian gaming, said Perone. “People are leery of doing anything to hurt revenue, to jeopardize revenue,” he told the Hartford Courant.
Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff concurred, “There is little appetite to advance the bill further this session,” he said.
Perone introduced his bill as the erstwhile rivals the Mohegan and Pequot tribes have begun the process of winnowing proposed locations for a third casino. The tribes, which operate the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, formed MMCT Venture to operate that third facility, mainly to try to blunt the effect that the MGM Springfield in Massachusetts will have on gaming revenues.
They argue that the state could lose as many as 9,000 jobs and $100 million per year in taxes paid. They called Perone’s bill a delaying tactic to avoid addressing this issue. They pointed to several previous studies that provided enough data, they said.
MGM Resorts International has pushed for the study. It issued a statement that said: “The fact remains that there are significant unanswered questions and unknown ramifications associated with considering whether to establish commercial casinos in Connecticut,” adding, “We continue to believe that having the state commission a comprehensive, objective analysis — something that’s never been done around the issue of casino gaming — is the best way forward for the state and its taxpayers.”
Senator Tim Larson, who opposed the bill, had issued a statement before the bill that said, “Every time MMCT Ventures’ casino project is delayed, the threat by MGM grows larger and more immediate. There is no time to waste here, and there’s no need for another study. Any political fighting over this issue represents a major failure to support two of our oldest and most loyal partners, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes.”
