Connecticut lawmakers call for gambling expansion to fund education

Connecticut lawmakers hope to legalise internet lottery sales, online gambling and sports betting.

US.- Lawmakers continue to push for an expansion of gambling in Connecticut, stressing that the extra state revenue would help fund education in the state.

A group of Democratic legislators says the tax revenue would go to Pledge to Advance Connecticut (PACT) programme, which offers qualifying students financial assistance towards a debt-free university education.

Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney said: “The idea that we have to make it possible for lower-income people to navigate the higher education system by at the very least not going into debt when they go to community college is so important.”

“Today, it is even more important to access higher education, because a high school diploma is so much more limiting now than it was many years ago.”

Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont has spoken in favour of legal sports betting and online gambling as a way to make up for lost funds during the Covid-19 pandemic. That paved the way for the introduction of a bill on the subject.

Tribal backing vital

Connecticut currently offers legal gambling at just two tribal casinos: the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation’s Foxwoods and Mohegan Tribe’s Mohegan Sun.

Any sports betting and online gambling legislation must have the support of the two tribes.

The two properties reported significant losses of revenue in 2020 due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.