Connecticut expansion needs to respect tribal agreements
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy said he’d only sign a casino expansion bill that doesn’t harm existing agreements between the state and the tribes.
US.- A potential casino expansion in Connecticut is set to be defined before this year’s legislative session ends on June 7. However state’s Governor Dannel Malloy said that he’d only sign it if it doesn’t hurt the current revenue sharing arrangement with the two federally recognised tribes.
Connecticut lawmakers have two weeks to decide if they either open the bidding process for a third casino in the state, if they grant the Mohegan and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribes to build a joint gambling venue or if they don’t act at all and leave the issue pending. According to Malloy’s statement, one of the last two options is the most likely to happen.
The tribes have a 24 year agreement with the state that grants them the monopoly of casino gambling in Connecticut in exchanche for a contribution of 25 percent of their slot machine revenue to the state. They operate one casino each, both in reservation lands, that have contributed US$7 billion to state coffers and are expected to provide US$260 million this year.
Recently, they’ve been threatened by the US$950 million MGM Resorts Springfield venue that’s soon to be opened in Massachusetts. In addition, MGM has shown interest in the bidding process for a casino in Connecticut in order to install a facility near the state’s New York border. According to the tribes, a casino there won’t generate as much tax revenue than one in East Windsor, where they’ve already pacted to potentially develop their own.
