Connecticut House Votes for Casino Expansion

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Wednesday, June 28th, 2017 | Written by Adam Brown

Last month, the Connecticut State Senate ratified a piece of legislation to allow the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority to open up a commercial casino together in East Windsor. Now the Connecticut House of Representatives has followed suit, approving the bill by a margin of 103 to 46, with its final approval subsequently awaiting a signature by Governor Dannel Malloy before being passed into law.

Controversial Proposal

According to reports, MMCT Venture, which is a collaborative partnership between the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, will be permitted to run a satellite gambling facilities away from their reservations. Nevertheless, the arrangement is quite controversial, with critics pointing out that such an arrangement could perhaps jeopardize the existing gaming compacts currently agreed with the tribes.

The giant casino company MGM Resorts International has also been criticizing the MMCT Venture project, and has called on the state to instead implement a competitive process that would let private casino operators work with the tribes in order to submit potential bids for another casino in Connecticut. Unsurprisingly, the Las Vegas-based company has previously expressed its own desire to build a large gambling facility in southwestern Connecticut near Bridgeport, which is the state’s biggest city, and conveniently situated only 50 miles away from New York City.

As a result, several newspapers have now reported that the bill is likely to face a legal challenge in court, with MGM Resorts International expected to step into the role of one of the plaintiffs supporting the claim. As Matthew Ritter, the Democratic majority leader for the Connecticut House of Representatives, explains:

“It’s hard to predict what their claims are going to be and then what the defenses are going to be but we acknowledge that someone is going to sue. We don’t know who or for what reason but they will.”

Meanwhile, Senior Vice President for MGM Resorts International, Uri Clinton, stated:

“We will continue to vigorously advocate in the courts as we seek to protect the constitutional rights of any company hoping to do business in Connecticut. And that ultimately is what our goal has always been; we’d like the chance to compete to do business in Connecticut.”

Missed Opportunity

After the most recent vote on the matter, Uri Clinton explained to some Connecticut newspapers that he believes a big opportunity was missed to set up a transparent, open and competitive casino process that could have potentially generated around $1 billion in development funds for the economy. Clinton also stated that the competitive bidding process that his company advocated for would have facilitated the creation of jobs, providing gainful employment for thousands of people. Even the licensing fee, he said, could have brought in a combined $100 million for state coffers.

For their part in the matter, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority tribes have stated that the 200,000 square foot casino facility that is currently being planned for East Windsor has the potential to create well over 4,000 jobs, which will go hand in hand with another 2,300 construction jobs that will be required to complete the project. Commenting upon the proposed gambling facility and the 2,000 slots and 150 gambling table it will offer, Kevin Brown, Chairman of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, explained:

“There are families across the state breathing a sigh of relief tonight thanks to leaders in both chambers and from both parties. With this vote, we have all demonstrated a commitment to protecting the state of Connecticut and the good jobs of its residents.”