Malloy, tribes ink amended agreements that include third casino
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the casino-owning Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes updated their revenue-sharing agreements Thursday, signing amended "compacts" that reflect the third casino the tribes have been authorized to jointly develop in East Windsor.
The third casino’s key opponent, MGM Resorts International, observed the occasion by renewing its vow to contest the legality of the casino-expansion law granting the authorization.
A day earlier, on Wednesday, MGM Resorts asked a federal appeals court to reconsider its month-old decision to uphold a lower court’s dismissal of MGM’s claim that the 2015 law that enabled the tribes to launch their bid for a third casino was unconstitutional.
MGM petitioned the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for a rehearing in the matter, claiming the decision rendered by a three-judge panel conflicts with U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
“Rehearing is therefore necessary to secure uniformity of the Court’s decisions,” MGM’s lawyers wrote in the 18-page petition.
The judges found that MGM lacked standing to challenge the 2015 law because the gaming operator “has failed to allege any specific plans to develop a casino in Connecticut.” MGM, in its petition, cites a case in which the high court ruled that “a plaintiff had standing to challenge a university’s admissions policy for transfer students even though the plaintiff had never applied — or taken steps to apply — for a transfer.”
MGM seeks a rehearing by the three-judge panel or a rehearing “en banc,” meaning by a larger number of judges.
The Connecticut legislature and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs must approve the amended agreements signed Thursday before the tribes can proceed with the East Windsor project, which is expected to protect the tribes’ existing casinos — Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun — from the competitve impact of MGM Springfield, a $950 million resort casino being built in Massachusetts.
Malloy signed amended compacts and memorandums of understanding with each of the tribes. Kevin Brown, the Mohegan chairman, and Rodney Butler, the Mashantucket chairman, signed for their respective tribes.
The tribes expect approval by the legislature and the BIA within 45 days.
Malloy had signed the bill authorizing the tribes' East Windsor casino on June 27.
“We continue to believe that the process put in place by the legislature and signed today by the governor violates both the Connecticut and U.S. constitutions,” Uri Clinton, senior vice president and legal counsel for MGM Resorts, said in a statement. “As such, we will continue to pursue all legal remedies.”
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