HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Leaders of Connecticut’s two federally recognized Indian tribes met privately with state lawmakers Wednesday, urging them to make a key change to last year’s legislation that gave them an initial go-head to build a satellite casino near the Massachusetts border.
Mohegan Tribal Chairman Kevin Brown and Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Chairman Rodney Butler want the General Assembly to remove a provision that requires the U.S. Department of Interior to approve proposed amendments to the casino revenue-sharing agreements between the state and the tribes before the new, jointly owned and operated East Windsor casino can open. The federal agency has taken no public action since September, putting the tribes’ plans in limbo.
“Let’s go back to the beginning and see if there’s a way that we can strip that requirement and move forward,” Brown said.
The tribal leaders were expected to meet with House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin. Democratic Sen. Cathy Osten, of Sprague, has said she is pursuing legislation to remove the requirement. But lawmakers are running out of time to act on the tribes’ request. This year’s legislative session ends at midnight on May 9.
The tribes own Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino in southeastern Connecticut, which currently provide the state with 25 percent of the slot machine revenues in return for exclusive rights to certain kinds of gambling.
The tribal leaders contend their proposed 200,000-square-foot venue is needed to protect jobs at their existing casinos and compete with the new MGM Resorts casino that’s opening this summer in Springfield, Massachusetts. While the tribes have demolished an old movie theater at the site of their planned casino, they have yet to begin construction.
The Department of Interior’s inspector general, at the request of Connecticut’s congressional delegation, is investigating the federal agency’s handling of the tribes’ application. The federal lawmakers have questioned whether the agency delayed the project because it had been influenced by MGM lobbyists. The Department of Interior has declined to comment, citing a lawsuit filed by the tribes and the state of Connecticut over the delay.
While the tribes and state argue there is a presumption the department has essentially approved the proposed changes to the revenue-sharing agreement by not rejecting them, Democratic state Attorney General George Jepsen recently issued a legal opinion, saying state law still requires the federal approval before the new casino can open.
Butler said the tribes’ attorneys have provided lawmakers with an alternative legal strategy they contend will work.
“It’s an opinion, right,” asked Butler, referring to Jepsen’s ruling. “And we expect the leaders in the General Assembly to do exactly that, be leaders in a sense, and take that as an opinion and take into consideration what’s in the best interest of the state.”
Meanwhile, the tribal leaders planned to remind state lawmakers to involve them in any plans this session to begin the process of possibly legalizing sports betting in Connecticut, depending on if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns a 1992 law forbidding all but Nevada and three other states from authorizing gambling on college and professional sports.
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