Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Casino opponents rally behind legislation

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Legislation designed to block the expansion of casino gambling may be added to the agenda of this month's special session of the General Assembly.

The session was called to deal with Connecticut's growing budget crisis, but state Senate President Pro Tem Kevin Sullivan said Monday he thinks it makes sense to also take up the casino issue, which has bipartisan backing. A group of Republican lawmakers has been circulating a petition to force a special session on the issue.

"If we're here, why don't we do it," Sullivan, D-West Hartford, said.

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and the Connecticut Alliance Against Casino Expansion on Monday said lawmakers could block any new casinos by using environmental regulations and repealing a 30-year-old law that regulates nonprofit charities.

"This is a way Connecticut can reclaim control over its economic destiny and protect its quality of life," Blumenthal said. "There is no fundamental right to gambling under federal law. The state of Connecticut has the right to decide that enough gambling is enough, that two casinos are sufficient."

Golden Hill Paugussett Chief Quiet Hawk, called the repeal effort "selective legislation against a selective group of people ... They will stop at nothing with this anti-Indian attitude." The Paugussetts are expecting a ruling on federal recognition early next year.

The state's 1972 "Las Vegas night" law opened the door to Indian casinos by permitting churches and other nonprofit groups to raise money with casino-type games.

The Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegan tribes used the statute to open casinos because the National Indian Gaming Regulatory Act says tribes can pursue any gambling that already exists in the state.

Earlier this year the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs recognized a third Connecticut tribe, the Eastern Pequots from North Stonington. A tribe official declined to comment Monday on potential anti-gambling legislation.

Four other tribes have also applied for recognition and all have indicated they plan to open casinos in the state. Once federally recognized, the governor and tribe must negotiate a gaming compact, which then must be approved by the legislature.

The specter of more casinos mobilized opponents to form the coalition, which has grown to more than 500 members in the past two months. Coalition president Jeff Benedict, who also has written a book critical of the Mashantucket recognition process, said their proposed legislation would require more environmental mitigation by potential casino operators.

Potential casino owners would be forced to perform an environmental impact study and remedy any serious issues that arise before the compact can be ratified. Connecticut's two existing casinos draw 50,000 to 75,000 cars daily and have had a significant impact on state roads, he said.

"How can you possibly divorce the environmental impact those vehicles have on the rest of our state as they travel through our towns, on our highways going to and from those facilities," he said.

Benedict's anti-casino grass-roots group has grown to about 500 members in the past two months and raised more than $100,000. In addition, Benedict said some $250,000 in goods and services have been donated to help the cause.

The Connecticut Alliance Against Casino Expansion has scheduled a series of informational meetings, including one that was held Monday night in North Stonington, site of the Eastern Pequot reservation.

The alliance handed out packets containing envelopes addressed to lawmakers and other state officials as well as petitions opposing new casinos.

Nearly 70 people attended Monday night's meeting.

At the session, Ward Linsley of Waterford questioned whether state officials had the "moral fortitude" to oppose another casino.

"When the first casino came in, the government didn't put up any resistance," he said. "And when the second one came in they still didn't resist. We have to make sure that we stay on them and that they do truly fight this."

Vilma Gregoropoulos said casinos cause problems for neighboring towns, partly because workers are not unionized and don't get paid fairly.

"The people who work there make subsistence-living wages," Gregoropoulos said. "They don't get what they deserve, and our towns are being asked to provide low-cost housing for them."

North Stonington Selectman Mac Turner said existing casinos have changed the character of his town, which is just a few miles from both casinos.

"We were a small rural community with a volunteer fire department and a volunteer ambulance corps. We had a strong sense of place," Turner said.

The casino traffic on Route 2 has tripled the number of ambulance calls, forcing the town to pay for professional service and the fire department may have some paid members soon, Turner said.

"We don't want to be the gambling mecca of the United States," Turner said.

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