When it comes to another Connecticut casino, the federal Department of Interior is hearing from a number of legislators and lawyers.
From Neil Vigdor, CT Post:
The agency hasn’t ruled one way or another on the legality of the project, creating a degree of uncertainty for the tribal owners of Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods as they look to build a casino in East Windsor to compete with an MGM resort that is scheduled to open next year in Springfield, Mass.MGM is challenging the tribes’ exclusive rights to develop a third casino in the state and have unveiled plans for a $675 million privately funded waterfront casino in Bridgeport.
… MGM officials say that the absence of a formal approval by the Interior Department, the parent agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, constitutes a denial.
They pointed to a recent opinion by state Attorney General George Jepsen, in which his spokeswoman said that going ahead with the project would pose “grave potential risks to the state of Connecticut.”
Full story here.
The only way Both Casino’s can break the contract with this State is to open the Moore/Gomes casino in East Windsor.
Is the State being snookered?
This is going to drag on in the courts, for years. The legislature should move along. This is one revenue stream that will not begin to flow for some time, if at all.
If the legislature could see past its collective moral ambivalence there would be a bill legalizing the recreational use of marijuana. From Wikipedia:
“The Colorado state budget has shown dramatic increases in education, often used to build, upgrade, and increase school safety and funding due to tax revenue from legalization. But, perhaps most importantly, opioid deaths have nearly vanished since legalization…”
As the state of Connecticut and the city of Bridgeport have budget deficits (as well as an opiod epidemic) the benefits of legal weed are at least two fold.
Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, along with U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., wrote to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Nov. 2 asking the agency to review and sign off on changes to the tribes’ existing compact with the state.
No telling what’s going to happen now that these three clowns are getting involved.
Donald,
Two U.S. Senators and a Congressman beats a pair of good old boys from Nevada.
Robert Teixera took exception with my reference to “a pair of good old boys from Nevada. Guess he’s never been further west than the Hudson River.
By Molly Olmstead
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Whitefish Energy, a tiny, 2-year-old energy company from a small town in Montana won a $300 million contract to fix Puerto Rico’s hurricane-ravaged power grid. The contract has also raised eyebrows because the company is based in Whitefish, Montana, the hometown of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.
The contract was cancelled.