Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

In closing days, argument against a third casino comes full circle

  • Politics
  • by Mark Pazniokas
  • June 2, 2017
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

CTMIRROR.ORG

Tribal casino employees visited the Capitol to promote casino expansion.

MGM Resorts International is closing its intense lobbying campaign against a commercial casino proposed by tribal competitors by returning to its original strategy: a challenge to the constitutionality of the legislature’s awarding a license without competition.

Eric H. Holder Jr., the U.S. attorney general under President Obama, in a letter addressed to state Attorney General George Jepsen but aimed at House members weighing casino expansion, reiterates a warning he first made in 2015 at MGM’s behest.

“The bill presents a violation of the Commerce Clause because it awards a valuable economic opportunity exclusively to two in-state entities—the Tribes—while shutting out all out-of-state competitors,” wrote Holder, now with Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., a firm hired by MGM. “The Commerce Clause ‘abhors’ such ‘economic protectionism.’ ”

The letter raises no new issues, but reminds legislators that Jepsen has warned of a legal risk in awarding the Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans a license to jointly develop a casino in East Windsor to compete with MGM in Springfield.

Holder, who also said a non-competitive legislative award would violate the equal protection clause of the Constitution, told Jepsen: “I urge you to counsel the Governor and the General Assembly further about these serious risks. S.B. 957 is in fact unconstitutional for precisely the reasons given in your letters.”

Jepsen is unlikely to act on Holder’s letter.

“The attorney general has addressed these issues with policymakers, both formally and informally, most recently in his formal opinion to Gov. Malloy. We would decline further comment at this time,” said Jaclyn Falkowski, a spokeswoman for Jepsen.

Connecticut has a financial incentive to allow the tribes to develop the state’s first casino off tribal lands: For nearly 25 years, the state has been the tribes’ partner, granting them exclusive rights to casino gaming in return for 25 percent of the gross slots revenue generated at their Foxwoods Resort and Mohegan Sun casinos.

The deal has generated $7 billion for the state since 1993. But from a high of $430 million in 2007, the slots revenue has dropped each year in the face of growing competition in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It is expected to produce about $260 million this year.

The East Windsor casino is intended to stabilize slots revenue, or at least minimize further losses when MGM’s Springfield casino opens in 2018. MGM has tried to convince legislators the state could do better financially by seeking bids for a casino license in Fairfield County, near the New York market.

“There is only one proposal under consideration right now that presents a danger to the state, and it is MGM’s bill,” said Andrew Doba, a spokesman for the tribes’ joint venture, MMCT. “The governor won’t sign it, and we won’t particpate in any RFP process.”

Malloy said he would not sign any legislation jeopardizing the revenue generated by the state’s exclusivity deal with the tribes.

MGM earlier had suggested that even granting the tribes a commercial license could invalidate the revenue sharing. But the Bureau of Indian Affairs has told the state it was highly unlikely that the proposed legislation would jeopardize the tribes’ existing compacts with the state.

By a 2-1 margin, the Senate voted a week ago for a bill authorizing the tribes to develop the East Windsor casino, which would be a rare if not unprecedented instance of a legislature directly awarding a commercial casino license. An industry group, the American Gaming Association, says it is unaware of a commercial license being awarded by legislative action.

Malloy said the only casino expansion he would consider is a deal with the tribes that would preserve the current revenue-sharing agreement.

Given the Senate vote and the governor’s position on opening Fairfield County to casinos, the only two possibilities before the legislature adjourns at midnight Wednesday is House approval of the Senate bill — or no action on casino expansion.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Pazniokas is the Capitol Bureau Chief and a co-founder of CT Mirror. He is a frequent contributor to WNPR, a former state politics writer for The Hartford Courant and Journal Inquirer, and contributor for The New York Times.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Feds will not be placing migrant children in Connecticut
by Mark Pazniokas

The closed Juvenile Training School had been under consideration as a shelter

Lamont closed the restaurants. Now he is their promoter.
by Mark Pazniokas

A year after Gov. Ned Lamont banned indoor dining due to COVID-19, the industry has welcomed him as its savior.

CT lawmakers call for funding to stop ‘mass killing’ of Black and brown children
by Kelan Lyons

Lawmakers identified a $5 billion proposal by the Biden administration, and marijuana and sports-betting legalization efforts, as potential funding.

Lamont faults CDC on J&J vaccine pause: ‘I would have handled it differently’
by Mark Pazniokas

Gov. Ned Lamont and other governors expressed dismay to the White House over pausing the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

GOP retains Monroe-Newtown seat in CT House
by Mark Pazniokas

Republican Tony Scott of Monroe won a special election Tuesday in the 112th House District of Monroe and Newtown.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion College students in Connecticut should be vaccinated now
by Dayna Vadala

If the state of Connecticut wants its institutions of higher learning to return to normal in the fall, it’s going to have to get shots into the arms of the students.

Opinion Connecticut, be a International leader against hair discrimination among children
by Faith D. Crittenden, Jade A. Anderson, MD, and Whitney L. Stuard

On March 1, 2020, Connecticut became the eighth state to pass the Crown Act, a national legislative movement that recognizes natural hair and cultural headwear discrimination as a form of racial discrimination in the workplace. While we are  in strong support and advocate for this law, it is important to recognize the limitations of the Crown Act and how it can be improved upon in future policy.

Opinion Three lessons for schools across America from Secretary Cardona’s hometown
by Mark Benigni

Over the past decade, Meriden Public Schools -- where U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona served as assistant superintendent -- has become a unique laboratory for new ideas that push the boundaries of what is possible in public education. And many of those ideas have paid off.

Opinion A healthcare system too broken to fix
by Sosena Kedebe MD

On March 25, the White house announced that it was going to invest over $6 billion in health centers that are funded through the Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in order to expand COVID-19 vaccinations and other health services provided to vulnerable populations. As a chief medical officer for a health center that is strained to reach some of the most disenfranchised patient population in Hartford, this was great news. Yet there was a part of me that took the news with a deep concern. Why you might ask?

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO