Gambling bills race against the clock in Connecticut

The current legislative session ends on May 9th and it’s still unclear if any changes will take place in the gambling landscape.

US.- A tribal casino, a US$500 million MGM project and even sports betting regulation currently sit at the Connecticut Legislature, but it’s uncertain whether any of the proposals will make any progress before the current session ends on May 9th.

According to recent comments by House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, lawmakers “need to move forward with a comprehensive plan of what gambling looks like.” However, the Appropriations Committee had just rejected a bill to fund an up to US$750,000 plan for gambling expansion a day earlier.

Regarding the bill that would require state agencies to develop proposal requests from casino developers for a potential US$500 million project., Rep. Chris Rosario said he will “keep it positive and I’m going to stay hopeful” until the session officially ends.

Furthermore, there are other lawmakers that will push for their bills of interest, like Sen. Cathy Osten, who said she’ll be “making sure we’re shoring up the East Windsor casino” proposed by the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Tribes. She even advanced she’s working towards a bill to eliminate the federal approval requirement for the development, which is currently holding it back with the tribes ready to start working on the site.

In addition to the casino-related bills, Connecticut is willing to debate on sports betting and even has a bill sitting on the House. However, it is unlikely it will succeed in the near future as many lawmakers want to collect more information about the local market and are urging for an in-depth study to be approved this session.