If there was any doubt that MGM Resorts, developer of a new casino in Springfield, Mass., is worried about plans for a proposed tribal border casino in Connecticut, the big gambling company proved it this week with a federal lawsuit aimed at stopping the Mohegans and Mashantucket Pequots.  

The action emphasizes the point that Connecticut needs to be vigilant in pursuing a new casino that would help stop the flow of jobs and gambling dollars over the border to an MGM casino in Massachusetts.

The chosen Massachusetts casino developers have made no secret of the fact they plan to rob the gambling coffers across the state line, and now they are aggressively covering their bets with a federal lawsuit.

It's a siren call for Attorney General George Jepsen, who now must defend the new Connecticut legislation that allows the tribes to begin planning for a jointly-run third Connecticut casino, one not on reservation land.

MGM's lawsuit is based in part on a warning that Jepsen issued before Connecticut lawmakers gave the tribes a yellow light for a new casino, an argument that giving the tribes exclusive rights for an off-reservation casino could be unconstitutional, in violation of the equal protection clause.

Curiously, the Massachusetts law that allowed MGM to pursue a casino license also gives Massachusetts American Indians certain preferences in pursuing a southeastern Massachusetts license.

I know some lawyers have questioned the strength of MGM's legal argument in its new lawsuit. Still, the lawsuit puts an immediate cloud on Connecticut's plans — if nothing else, a prospect of endless legal delays.

A spokesman for Jepsen this week said the attorney general is reviewing the complaint and will respond in court.

I hope the attorney general is beginning to craft not just a response to the new lawsuit but a general legal strategy for Connecticut to pursue its plans, plans that now have the preliminary support of a majority of state lawmakers and the governor.

After all, this is really a no-brainer. It's not really an expansion of Connecticut's gambling, which is now provided by two of the largest casinos in the world. It just pushes some of that gambling closer to the Massachusetts border.

Maybe one option for the attorney general's strategy for going forward would be to suggest new legislation that would allow MGM, or any other gambling companies interested, to compete with the tribes for a new commercial casino license in Connecticut.

The ground rules could be the same as when Connecticut put a Bridgeport casino out to bid when the Pequots were already paying a share of slot revenues from their Foxwoods Resort Casino.

The successful Connecticut bidder, with a new law, would be required to match the current contributions from the tribe, more than $200 million a year, in addition to the new gambling taxes from the commercial casino.

After all, that's only fair, since the state would lose that tribal revenue if it were to grant a commercial license to a new operator, thereby violating the deals in which the tribes pay in exchange for a duopoly.

I think the two Connecticut tribes still probably would be the successful bidders, even if others were willing to agree to the deal for offsetting lost reservation income.

But at least Connecticut's tribes, if they lost out on the new license, would get the consolation prize of no longer having to pay the state money for their exclusive gambling rights.

That might allow them to better compete with a Springfield casino as well as another in Enfield or Windsor Locks, too.

That's one possible legal solution, in the event the new MGM lawsuit begins to look like it might stall plans for Connecticut to protect its gambling industry. It would need to be fast-tracked, too.

The ball is now in the attorney general's court, and he needs to find some legal way forward here, if not a competition, to thwart the predatory ambitions of the Las Vegas gambling moguls.

If it's going to be Jepsen vs. Vegas, I'd like to put my money on Connecticut's attorney general and two of the state's biggest employers.

And to borrow some legalese, time is of the essence.

The job-stealing Springfield MGM will be here before you know it.

This is the opinion of David Collins.

d.collins@theday.com

Twitter: @DavidCollinsct