During the Democratic National Convention last week in Philadelphia Connecticut’s gaming tribes held a breakfast for the state’s delegation to lobby it about the third satellite casino that they would like to open.
The Mohegan and Pequot tribes are trying to identify a site near Hartford and the border with Massachusetts to build a small slots parlor to try to ameliorate the effects that the MGM Springfield will have on the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods’ bottom line.
A member of the Mohegan Tribal Council, Kathy Regan-Pyne told the group, “As you know, a corporate competitor is building a billion dollar casino in Springfield, and that could draw up to $702 million dollars and 9,300 jobs away from Connecticut. Fortunately there’s way to prevent this from happening.”
The MGM Springfield is due to open in 2018. The tribes want to erect its defensive casino before then. The plan is undergoing a mammoth challenge by MGM, including lawsuits and extreme pressure on state lawmakers, even an attempt to slip a rider into a defense bill in Congress that would prevent the tribes from opening the casino once they determine a location for it.
The tribes seek a bill from the General Assembly that would allow them to build a casino. So far the Assembly has only authorized them to conduct a search for a suitable site. Even that law was challenged in court by MGM, although a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit.
MGM claims that the state has created a process for building a third casino that is discriminatory because MGM is not allowed to compete in it.
Alan Feldman, executive vice president of MGM Resorts International said recently, “We believe the state of Connecticut and its residents would be best served by a fair, open, competitive and transparent process if the state decides to move into commercial casino gaming for the first time.” He added, “The two tribes are attempting to do what hasn’t been done before anywhere in this country—extend their exclusivity beyond tribal land to anyplace in the state. We merely want a reasonable opportunity to compete in a process that will demonstrate that the best deal for Connecticut—in economic benefits, jobs and tax revenue—is in Southwestern Connecticut, as the data clearly indicates.”
Two high profile members of the delegation were U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy. Regan-Pyne thanked both of them for their support, and for helping to kill the attempt in Congress last month.
Montana Senator John Tester was a featured speaker at the breakfast. He is the ranking Democrat of the Senate Indian Affairs subcommittee. He is also in charge of the DNC’s campaign to try to retake the U.S. Senate.
Tester reiterated his support for the tribes and their fight to resist MGM’s entry into their market by way of the Bay State.
The tribes are equal opportunity schmoozers. During the Republican convention last week in Cleveland they sponsored a river and lake cruise for the state’s GOP delegates. Given the state’s political make-up, there were far fewer GOP delegates to lobby than in Philadelphia, where the delegation included a governor, two U.S. Senators, two members of Congress and various other state officials.
Between them the two tribal casinos employ 15,000 workers.
