Downstate lawmakers want competitive bidding among casino operators
Lawmakers from the Bridgeport and New Haven areas who support expanded gaming in the state are calling for an open, competitive process for the evaluation of casino proposals, an approach that differs sharply from the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes’ ongoing pursuit of a Hartford-area casino.
State Reps. Christopher Rosario and Ezequiel Santiago, both Bridgeport Democrats, posted statements Monday in which they backed a bill introduced by Rep. Michael DiMassa, a West Haven Democrat.
The measure proposes the establishment of “a transparent and competitive process for the issuance of commercial gaming licenses by the Department of Consumer Protection.”
A 2015 law enabled the tribes, respective owners of Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun, to jointly pursue proposals for casino sites from Connecticut municipalities. The tribes' partnership, MMCT Venture, has narrowed the field to two towns, East Windsor and Windsor Locks.
Legislation authorizing commercial rather than tribal casinos would have to be enacted before the tribes — or anyone else for that matter — could open a third casino in the state.
“We need jobs in Connecticut, and our economy needs help,” Rosario said in a release posted on his website. “Connecticut needs an open, competitive process where the state — and the public — would evaluate competing proposals from world-class developers that must include plans for hiring during all phases of construction and when a casino begins operations.”
“The process we have now is nothing more than a string of missed opportunities and endless secrecy,” Rosario said.
MGM Resorts International, the gaming giant whose ongoing development of a $950 million casino resort in Springfield, Mass., has fueled the tribe’s in-state expansion bid, hailed the downstate lawmakers’ pronouncements.
"These legislators have it right, and they are proposing what Connecticut should have done from day one: put in place a process that is fair, open, transparent, reliable, and competitive,” Alan Feldman, an MGM Resorts executive vice president, said in a statement. “That’s how Connecticut wins — with a process that allows all qualified bidders to compete and the state to get the best deal. It is hands down the best way for the state to maximize the number of jobs that can be created, and the amount of gaming revenue that can be generated.”
MGM, which has been opposing the tribes’ pursuit of a Hartford-area casino, has commissioned market research that determined that a casino in Bridgeport would be more beneficial to the state than one in north-central Connecticut.
“We look forward to having an opportunity to develop a comprehensive plan that can be carefully considered side-by-side with other industry competitors,” Feldman said.
A bill proposed by Rep. Roland Lemar, a New Haven Democrat, would allow for new commercial casinos to be developed in the state and impose a tax of 25 percent on such casinos’ gaming revenues — both slot machines and table games.
The Mashantuckets and the Mohegans now remit 25 percent of their slots revenue in accordance with exclusive gaming agreements with the state.
An alliance of groups opposed to casino expansion announced Monday that it planned to hold a news conference Tuesday morning at the state Capitol. The tribes are hosting a public meeting Tuesday night in East Windsor to discuss their third-casino efforts.
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