The House narrowly approved a bill Friday that would authorize a study of siting a new casino in Connecticut.
Foxwoods Resorts Casino
Posted inMoney
Malloy seeks pivotal opinion from AG on casino expansion
Attorney General George Jepsen, who derailed a fast-moving campaign for casino expansion in 2015 by raising questions never fully answered, has been asked by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy for a formal opinion on the ramifications of allowing Connecticut’s two federally recognized tribes to jointly develop a casino off tribal lands.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Saving jobs and protecting tourism is a winning combination for Connecticut
The recent groundbreaking for a casino just north of the Massachusetts border in Springfield promises to draw more customers from Connecticut than from their own region. Connecticut’s Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Tribes are working to remain competitive in this new environment with a strategically located, jointly run facility that will directly compete with new gaming options on our border. Last session, the Connecticut General Assembly allowed the tribes to work together and accept proposals from towns interested in hosting this new facility. The tribes have been good neighbors and friends to the state for 13 generations, and business partners for the past two decades. They are asking the state to support a plan to protect jobs, business and revenue. Doing so is a win-win for all.
Posted inMoney
AG says MGM bluffing in the casino border war
Connecticut’s attorney general’s office asked a federal judge Wednesday to call what it suggests is a cheeky legal bluff by MGM Resorts International to protect the casino MGM is developing across the border in Springfield, Mass.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Tribes set to pitch legislature on new casino in ’16
Connecticut’s two tribal casinos staged a ceremony Thursday marking the start of a formal search for a community willing to accept a new gambling hall to maintain market share against competition coming to Massachusetts.
Posted inPolitics
Study: I-91 casino best bet to keep gamblers in CT
A casino in the I-91 corridor north of Hartford could recapture nearly 53 percent of the Connecticut gambling dollars that otherwise would be lost to the MGM Springfield casino, according to a study released Thursday.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Tribes see casino momentum outside Capitol
Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribal leaders say the new interest by greater Hartford municipalities in hosting a casino should translate into momentum for their joint proposal at the General Assembly.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Let the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes open satellite casinos
Today, we have two of the state’s largest employers and biggest tourist attractions willing to invest more than $300 million dollars in our state to protect 10,000 existing jobs. Connecticut, a state of 169 municipalities that have directly benefited from the billions of dollars in slot revenues contributed by the Tribes to the state’s coffers, can and must give the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot Tribes the ability to compete to protect their businesses. If Connecticut does not allow the tribes to take steps to protect their businesses and revenues, the state will lose thousands of additional jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.
Posted inPolitics
Attorney General to legislators: Casino expansion poses legal risks
Attorney General George Jepsen warned top legislators Wednesday that legislation giving the Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans exclusive rights to a new casino was itself a gamble, potentially endangering the current profit-sharing deal with the tribes and exposing the state to claims of illegal favoritism.
Posted inMoney, Politics
CT tribes rally to Malloy’s defense against Oklahoma tribal lenders
The leaders of Connecticut’s federally recognized Indian tribes rallied Monday to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s defense, decrying the practice of an Oklahoma tribe and its business associates to make unlicensed, short-term loans here at astronomical rates.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Study: Casino competition will cost CT 9,300 jobs
New casinos in New York and Massachusetts will siphon $703 million in annual revenue from Connecticut’s two tribal casinos by 2019, costing 9,300 residents their jobs and state government $100 million, according to an industry study.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Gaming expansion bill clears committee
A proposal to expand casino gaming outside of Connecticut’s Indian reservations advanced Thursday. But while the state legislature’s Public Safety and Security Committee endorsed the measure by a wide margin, it narrowly rejected an amendment that would have barred the state from offering loans, grants or other economic aid to preserve casino jobs.
Posted inNews
Gaming expansion draws considerable support, some opposition
While Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was noncommittal Tuesday about a proposed expansion of gaming in Connecticut, it drew support from business, labor and municipal leaders.
Posted inPolitics
Connecticut’s unlikely history of casinos gets a new chapter
Failing to slam the door on casino gambling in 1991, Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. cut the deal in 1993 that both gave the industry a foundation and firmly capped its reach in Connecticut — until now. Today, the legislature’s Public Safety and Security Committee holds a public hearing on what appears to be the strongest attempt in two decades to expand casino gambling off tribal lands.
Posted inPolitics
Quinnipiac poll: Pot does better than Malloy, casinos
A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday shows that Connecticut has grown comfortable with the existing casino industry, but that proponents of expansion face a significant sales job in the months ahead.