{"id":51604,"date":"2017-06-05T13:00:30","date_gmt":"2017-06-05T20:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=51604"},"modified":"2017-06-05T13:50:49","modified_gmt":"2017-06-05T20:50:49","slug":"connecticut-casino-plans-suddenly-uncertain-amid-last-minute-politicking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/connecticut-casino-plans-suddenly-uncertain-amid-last-minute-politicking\/","title":{"rendered":"New Connecticut Casino Less Certain Amid Last-Minute Politicking Flurry"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Connecticut’s 2017\u00a0legislative\u00a0session ticking toward its Wednesday close, the General Assembly may not\u00a0have enough\u00a0support to push forward\u00a0a bill to allow\u00a0the state’s gaming tribes to begin building a third casino.<\/p>\n

\"Connecticut
Uri Clinton, senior vice president for MGM Resorts, has become a familiar face in Hartford, vigorously lobbying\u00a0to stop\u00a0a proposal that would\u00a0allow Connecticut tribes to build a satellite casino in East Windsor. (Image: Mike Savino\/Record-Journal)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Connecticut’s governor has said he’s ready to sign off on a bill authorizing the Mohegans and Mashantucket Pequot tribes to build a third casino in the state, one that they would jointly operate.The state Senate has passed a bill creating the necessary framework. The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs<\/a> has deflected challenges to give the project a nod. Now all that’s necessary is for the state Assembly to give these measures their final tweaks and approval.<\/p>\n

And that is where opponents of a the new casino are making their last stand.<\/p>\n

To the delight of\u00a0Nevada-based casino giant MGM Resorts, which has a $950 million casino project under construction nearby in Springfield, Mass., members of Connecticut’s\u00a0Black and Puerto Rican Caucus have suddenly become swing votes in the House. These members are\u00a0saying they can’t support the current casino expansion proposal\u00a0without “sweeteners” amended to the Senate bill.<\/p>\n

\n

“This is a complicated subject,” House Majority Leader Matt Ritter (D-Hartford) told The<\/i> Connecticut Mirror<\/i> this week. “Gaming is lucrative, so people see opportunities to be part of it.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

How Sweet It Isn’t<\/b><\/h2>\n

While there was adequate support in the Senate for the East Windsor site, House leaders are saying they cannot pass the Senate’s bill without additional sweetener legislation from the Senate. According to The Mirror<\/i>, that includes representatives who are seeking authorization for a “boutique casino” in Hartford, and slot machines at off-track wagering establishments throughout the state.<\/p>\n

The Connecticut Senate passed a bill authorizing the construction of the satellite casino in East Windsor just off I-91 months ago. That legislation, however, mandates that Connecticut’s two federally recognized tribes would be the recipients of the lone expansion license.<\/strong><\/p>\n

MGM is crying foul, saying if tribes are building off-reservation, then corporate casinos\u00a0deserve a chance to compete for the license.\u00a0Lawmakers, however, recognize MGM’s comments largely as\u00a0a bluff, as their interest in such a license would be simply to keep gambling as far away from Springfield as possible.<\/p>\n

MGM Profits from Inaction<\/b><\/h2>\n

Should the House approve Connecticut’s tribal casino expansion proposal, but with a companion bill full of earmarks for other municipalities, it’s likely to find renewed opposition in the Senate. Numerous state senators said when they passed their bill, they\u00a0did so to keep gambling dollars in state, and to protect jobs at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. But they opposed further gambling development beyond this one exception.<\/p>\n

\n

Governor Dannel Malloy<\/a> (D) says he’ll sign a bill to allow the state’s two tribes to build an off-reservation casino in East Windsor. He won’t, however, sign legislation that ends the Native American groups’ exclusivity rights, he has said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The House’s approving\u00a0the satellite location without a\u00a0sweetener bill seems unlikely in these final hours. House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz (D-Berlin) said there’s simply not enough votes in his chamber to pass the Senate version as is.<\/p>\n

\n

Without that support, this bill that previously looked capable of bringing together two competing tribes, a Republican senate and Democratic governor, and federal bureaucratic overseers, could be suddenly dead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Unless a quick resolution is found, this round\u00a0will go to MGM, with\u00a0the MGM Springfield moving closer to opening day without any serious competition in its path.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With Connecticut’s 2017\u00a0legislative\u00a0session ticking toward its Wednesday close, the General Assembly may not\u00a0have enough\u00a0support to push forward\u00a0a bill to allow\u00a0the state’s gaming tribes to begin building a third casino. Connecticut’s governor has said he’s ready to sign off on a bill authorizing the Mohegans and Mashantucket Pequot tribes to build a third casino in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":51607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,18,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nConnecticut Casino Plans Suddenly Uncertain Amid Last-Minute Politicking<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The decision on the Connecticut casino satellite location must be made before midnight on Wednesday night, otherwise gambling will remain in its status quo.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Connecticut Casino Plans Suddenly Uncertain Amid Last-Minute Politicking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The decision on the Connecticut casino satellite location must be made before midnight on Wednesday night, otherwise gambling will remain in its status quo.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/connecticut-casino-plans-suddenly-uncertain-amid-last-minute-politicking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-06-05T20:00:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-06-05T20:50:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/dt.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"764\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"501\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/connecticut-casino-plans-suddenly-uncertain-amid-last-minute-politicking\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/connecticut-casino-plans-suddenly-uncertain-amid-last-minute-politicking\/\",\"name\":\"Connecticut Casino Plans Suddenly Uncertain Amid Last-Minute Politicking\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/connecticut-casino-plans-suddenly-uncertain-amid-last-minute-politicking\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/connecticut-casino-plans-suddenly-uncertain-amid-last-minute-politicking\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/dt.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-06-05T20:00:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-06-05T20:50:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"The decision on the Connecticut casino satellite location must be made before midnight on Wednesday night, otherwise gambling will remain in its status quo.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/connecticut-casino-plans-suddenly-uncertain-amid-last-minute-politicking\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/connecticut-casino-plans-suddenly-uncertain-amid-last-minute-politicking\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/connecticut-casino-plans-suddenly-uncertain-amid-last-minute-politicking\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/dt.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/dt.jpg\",\"width\":764,\"height\":501,\"caption\":\"Uri Clinton, MGM's senior vice president, has become a familiar face in Hartford, as he's arguing against the proposal to allow a Connecticut casino satellite to be built in East Windsor. 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