Officials protest ‘Vegas Nights’ measure

Susan Haigh

Monday, Jan. 6, 2003 | 9:29 a.m.

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Some minority lawmakers say they are offended by an effort to repeal a law that that helped the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Indian tribes open casinos.

The Legislature is expected to vote today on a bill repealing the Las Vegas Nights statute, a 1972 law that permits churches and other nonprofit groups to raise money with casino-type games. The National Indian Gaming Regulatory Act says tribes can pursue any gambling already allowed by the state, and the Pequots and Mohegans used the law to open the Foxwoods Resort and Mohegan Sun casinos.

Proponents of a repeal believe eliminating such a law could stop another Indian tribe from following the same formula.

"I think it's wrong. If we can do this to the Indians, what's to say what other rights we can stop," said state Rep. Ernest Newton, D-Bridgeport, a member of the Legislature's black and Hispanic caucus.

There are several tribes in Connecticut seeking federal recognition that want to open casinos. Last summer the Bureau of Indian Affairs granted recognition to the Eastern Pequot Tribe in North Stonington, merging two petitioning groups -- the Eastern Pequots and the Paucatuck Eastern Pequots.

The state is appealing that decision.

The Golden Hill Paugussetts of Bridgeport expected to learn this month whether they will receive preliminary recognition, said the tribe's chief marketing official, William McBride. And the Schaghticokes of Kent are still pursuing recognition despite a preliminary denial from the BIA late last year.

"The tribe feels that the Las Vegas Nights (repeal) is aimed at stopping ... due process," McBride said. "They would like to see the bill to go down in defeat. But frankly, the repeal of Las Vegas Nights is not going to deter the tribe when we get recognized."

Gov. John G. Rowland, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and others who support the repeal have said they expect the matter will end up in the courts.

Last month the Connecticut branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People announced it would take legal action against individuals, organizations and municipalities that discriminate against the Paugussetts.

James Griffin, the state president, said he believes state officials have been working with casino opponents to deny the Paugusetts constitutional protections. The repeal of the Las Vegas Nights statute, he said, is the latest example.

"We feel that what has happened is that this tribe, being a black tribe, has been unduly targeted for this issue," he said. "If they repeal the law now, it would be discriminatory in a sense."

Griffin said the NAACP considers the Paugusetts to be a "black" tribe, because members historically intermarried with slaves, and many were forced into slavery.

Griffin and other opponents of the repeal said it would be unfair if the Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans were able to use the Las Vegas Nights law to open their gambling facilities, but others could not.

"You can't deny one when you have the others," said Rep. Reginald Beamon, D-Waterbury, chairman of the black and Hispanic caucus. "It makes for bad public policy."

Speaker of the House Moira K. Lyons, D-Stamford, agreed to call lawmakers back to Hartford for a special session after a group of Republican legislators from Fairfield County began collecting petitions to hold a special vote.

Many residents in the southwestern part of the state are worried about added traffic congestion from a casino. Both the Paugussetts and Schaghticokes have mentioned sites in Fairfield County for a casino.

Lyons said the repeal has nothing to do with race. Lyons said the Legislature changes and revamps laws every year.

"I think it's the responsibility of the state to determine what's best for the state," she said.

Senate President Pro Tem Kevin B. Sullivan, D-West Hartford, said he believes earlier versions of the Las Vegas Nights repeal bill could have been considered discriminatory. There was a provision that required any newly recognized tribe to pay for 100 percent of any environmental effects created by a casino.

That section has since been stripped, he said.

"I think that would have lasted about one quarter of a second in a court of law," Sullivan said.