A second state legislative committee voted Monday to approve the bill authorizing more state casinos.

The Planning and Development Committee backed Senate Bill 1090 by a vote of 14-5, with three committee members whose districts include parts of eastern Connecticut siding with the majority: Sens. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, and Art Linares, R-Westbrook, and Rep. Mike France, R-Ledyard.

The bill would authorize the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, which own Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun, respectively, to jointly operate up to three more casinos in the state.

A proposed amendment that would have required host municipalities to subject casino projects to referendums resulted in a 9-9 vote, effectively defeating it. As written, the bill only requires that a local "legislative body" approve a casino project, albeit following a public hearing.

In Massachusetts, where two resort casinos and a slots-only facility have been licensed, laws require that host communities vote whether to allow gaming facilities within their borders. Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, built on Indian reservations in the 1990s, were not subject to local approvals.

Other provisions of Monday’s failed amendment would have allowed only one additional casino and specifically prohibited the use of state funds in casino development.

The tribes would finance the building of the additional casinos and share revenues with the state and the host municipalities.

Osten, co-chairman of the planning committee, said in a phone interview she supports the referendum requirement and will fight for its eventual inclusion in the bill. But, she said, she didn’t believe the amendment was the right way to proceed.

“The bill needs a lot of work,” Osten said. “It just didn’t make sense to go about it in a piecemeal fashion.”

The senator, who also serves as Sprague’s first selectman, said she continues to support the bill because it’s needed to protect Connecticut casino jobs that could be lost when proposed casinos in Massachusetts and New York come online.

“For me this is about jobs,” she said.

Osten said a “lot of things” could yet derail the bill, which other committees are expected to review before it reaches the Senate floor. State Attorney General George Jepsen and the General Assembly’s Office of Legislative Research have warned that the bill could raise constitutional and anti-trust questions.

The Public Safety and Security Committee, which drafted the bill, approved it last month.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com

Twitter: @bjhallenbeck