Senate OKs deal with tribes on casino

The state Senate on Monday endorsed amended casino agreements between the state and the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, who were expected to ship them immediately to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Within 45 days of receiving them, the BIA is expected to sign off on the documents, clearing the way for the casino-owning tribes to develop a commercial casino on nontribal land in East Windsor.

“Once again, state legislators have stood up to defend Connecticut jobs and revenue,” Rodney Butler, the Mashantucket Pequot chairman, said in a statement. “We want to thank the House and Senate and the governor for approving these changes and doing the right thing for the state.”

Added Kevin Brown, the Mohegan chairman: “We’re confident that the BIA will follow in the steps of the General Assembly, and that work will get underway very soon.”

Monday’s Senate vote was 27-8. A week earlier, the House of Representatives approved the amended “compacts” and memorandums of understanding by a vote of 118-32. The documents specify that the tribes will pay the state 25 percent of the gross gaming revenue — from slot machines and table games — that the East Windsor casino generates.

The tribes sought authorization for a commercial casino as a hedge against MGM Springfield, a $950 million resort casino that’s expected to divert business from Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun, the tribe’s facilities in southeastern Connecticut. MGM Springfield, under construction in western Massachusetts, is scheduled to open late next year.

MGM Resorts International, the Las Vegas-based gaming operator behind the Massachusetts project, has vowed to “pursue all legal remedies” in an effort to block the East Windsor development. It claims the Connecticut legislation that authorized the state’s third casino is unconstitutional.

MGM has asked the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to revisit a June decision in the state’s favor.