A federal appeals court Wednesday ruled against MGM Resorts International, the owner of a casino under construction in Springfield, in the first round of what is expected to be a protracted legal fight to stop Connecticut from allowing a competing casino in East Windsor.
Mohegan Sun
Posted inPolitics
Mohegans play host to tribes, Interior secretary at pivotal time
UNCASVILLE — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the face of a Trump administration whose approach to the federal budget and its oversight of Indian country is skeptically viewed by many tribes, was welcomed here Tuesday by Connecticut’s two federally recognized tribes as an ally in their casino fight with MGM Resorts International.
Posted inPolitics
Deal is struck: House to authorize tribes’ East Windsor casino
The Senate’s approval of a little-noticed mixed-martial arts bill Tuesday evening was the signal: A deal has been struck for the House of Representatives to vote in the waning hours of the 2017 to authorize the owners of Connecticut’s tribal gaming resorts to develop a casino in East Windsor.
Posted inPolitics
Hartford’s 11th-hour casino game is ‘Let’s Make a Deal’
The Connecticut legislature’s long debate about the implications of expanding casino gambling has come down to a stark question of transactional politics: What do a relative handful of urban Democratic legislators want in return for allowing the Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans to jointly develop the state’s third casino, its first off tribal lands?
Posted inPolitics
Tribes get BIA letter helpful to their bid for a third casino
A Trump administration official says the election of President Trump and arrival of new leaders at the Department of the Interior have not changed advice given a year ago in a technical assistance letter: A commercial casino operated by Connecticut’s two federally recognized tribes would not jeopardize their revenue sharing deal with the state.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Legislators search for safest bet on casino expansion
Connecticut legislators weighing casino expansion face the same stomach-churning questions as any gambler confronting a big play: What is their tolerance for risk? What is the payout if they win? What are the consequences of a loss? What of doing nothing? And, perhaps, most importantly, do they even know the odds?
Posted inCities & Towns, Money
Jepsen sees ‘not insubstantial’ risk in casino expansion
Allowing Connecticut’s two federally recognized tribes to jointly operate a casino off tribal lands would pose legal risks that “are not insubstantial” to the more than $250 million in slots revenue annually shared with the state, Attorney General George Jepsen wrote Monday in a formal legal opinion.
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 inCities & Towns, Money, Politics
Tribes renew pitch for third casino, say they’ll name site in days
Updated at 2:45 p.m.
The tribes running the state’s two casinos will announce within days where in north-central Connecticut they want to build a satellite gaming facility, casino leaders announced Thursday.
Posted inNews
With visit to Malloy, tribes renew push for I-91 casino bill in 2017
The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribal nations signaled Friday with a real-estate announcement and a visit to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy that they are ready to press for legislation authorizing a casino in East Windsor or Windsor Locks to compete with an MGM gambling resort under construction in Springfield.
Posted inPolitics
Tribes serve DNC breakfast and a case for casino expansion
PHILADELPHIA — Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana had two reasons for being the featured speaker Tuesday at a Democratic National Convention breakfast sponsored by the owners of Connecticut’s two tribal casinos: He can help them in their fight with MGM Resorts International, and they can help him raise money to take back the Senate.
Posted inPolitics
MGM stalled in effort to block new Indian casino in CT
WASHINGTON — MGM Resorts International’s efforts to block the establishment of a third casino run by Connecticut’s gaming tribes has stalled on Capitol Hill, leaving the future of the effort in doubt.
Posted inJustice, Money
Jepsen: Fantasy sports bill could jeopardize slots revenue
Attorney General George Jepsen warned legislators in a formal legal opinion Monday that passage of legislation regulating daily fantasy sports contests could jeopardize Connecticut’s revenue-sharing agreement with the tribal casinos.
Posted inNews
Merrill to Schaghticokes: Our goof doesn’t get you a casino
Secretary of the State Denise Merrill formally notified the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation on Wednesday that her office’s mistaken acceptance of a business filing last month does not confer any right to develop a casino in Connecticut.
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.