Casino-study bill a response to eastern Connecticut's jobs outlook
An upcoming bill that’s expected to seek an assessment of the impact of a third Connecticut casino is part of a “proactive response” to the potential loss of casino jobs in eastern Connecticut.
State Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, a driving force behind the legislation, said Tuesday she believes it will reflect proposals championed by the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board. She said the bill would call for an analysis of casino job losses since the Great Recession and the effect of the additional job losses that could occur if the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes succeed in developing a casino in the Hartford area.
The measure would not be aimed at delaying the third-casino process, Osten said.
The workforce investment board has already responded to the region’s changing employment needs, launching a joint “manufacturing pipeline initiative” with Electric Boat as well as career counseling and education programs.
“It doesn’t matter whether there’s a third casino or just the day-to-day gaming business, southeastern Connecticut casinos are losing jobs,” Osten said Tuesday. “In talking to people, chambers of commerce, workforce groups, Three Rivers (Community College), we’ve been trying to figure out a way to recapture those jobs. The intention of this bill has nothing to do with whether or not there is a third casino. It’s to ensure eastern Connecticut recovers.”
The Mashantuckets and Mohegans, respective owners of Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun, are in the process of vetting potential sites for a Hartford-area “satellite” casino that could compete against MGM Springfield, a $950 million facility being built in nearby Massachusetts. The legislature would have to authorize commercial gaming on non-tribal lands before a third Connecticut casino could materialize.
The agenda of last Thursday’s meeting of the legislature’s Commerce Committee indicated the panel was considering separate “concepts” calling for a study of “employment transition in eastern Connecticut” and “the evaluation of the costs and benefits of establishing commercial gaming within the state of Connecticut.”
Osten said the bill she expects to emerge would combine the two concepts.
“Some momentum is in place,” John Beauregard, executive director of the EWIB, said, referring to the nonprofit agency’s ongoing efforts.
These include the pipeline initiative with EB; a federally funded program that provides training and other support for low-income individuals pursuing careers in health care; and an Early College Opportunity program that enables students at New London and Windham high schools to gain their diploma and a cost-free associate’s degree while acquiring skills aligned with manufacturing employment opportunities.
Future steps could include a detailed analysis of the eastern Connecticut workforce, career counseling for displaced workers and an expansion of the early college program.
Costs associated with the plan could come from “existing appropriations,” according to Osten.
It’s not the first time the workforce investment board has sought to “rebalance” the regional workforce. In the mid-1990s, it led efforts to support thousands of workers displaced by defense-industry cutbacks while simultaneously responding to the casinos’ early growth.
By 2008, that growth was being replaced by decline, with Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun eventually eliminating thousands of jobs amid the economic downturn and increasing competition from casinos in the Northeast.
Since then, the state Department of Labor has reported, the Norwich-New London labor market has lost more than 11,000 jobs, the most of any market in the state, primarily due to the casinos’ performance. And while Connecticut as a whole has regained nearly 89 percent of all jobs lost during the Great Recession, the Norwich-New London area has recovered only 8 percent of its positions.
In January, the department reported that the state's "government supersector," which includes the casinos, has lost 7,900 jobs since overall statewide employment recovery began in February 2010.
Twitter: @bjhallenbeck
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