Panel differs on gambling
HARTFORD — In a critical year for gambling in Connecticut, three Democrats at the center of a crucial legislative committee appear poised to clash.
State Sen. Dennis Bradley, D-Bridgeport; Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, and Rep. Joe Verrengia, D-West Hartford, are the most powerful voices on the General Assembly’s Public Safety and Security Committee, through which all gambling bills must pass before going to the House or Senate.
They represent the diverse perspectives of Democrats on gambling. The party should be able to pass its betting priorities in 2019 — if they can agree.
Bradley, Osten and Verrengia sat together on Tuesday in the middle of a horseshoe of lawmakers at the Public Safety and Security Committee’s first organizational meeting.
On the left was Bradley, who although he has been a lawmaker for less than a week, is the Senate chairman of Public Safety and a voice of Bridgeport’s decadeslong effort to land a casino.
“I’m excited to do some big things,” he said.
On the right was Osten, who is not a committee chair, but is critical and favors keeping gaming within the tribes.
“I will just point out that both of the two gaming institutions that are in the state of Connecticut are in my district,” she reminded lawmakers in the meeting Tuesday. “They are the two largest employers in the state and they provide the most tax revenue of any other business in state income.”
In the center was House chairman Verrengia, who does not fit in either camp.
Verrengia supports a proposal that Democrats tried last year: creating a comprehensive gambling policy that would encompass sports gambling, online and off-track betting and casinos. He emphasized his conversations will include all stakeholders.
“We have to look at an overall gaming strategy,” he said. “I’m not a proponent of doing a standalone sports betting bill, at least not initially, because I think it is important that we get it right the first time.”
Bradley said he might want to see a separate bill allowing the state to request proposals for Connecticut’s first commercial casino, although he is still making up his mind.
MGM has been lobbying to open a Bridgeport casino for years. A bill for an RFP cleared the House in 2018, but was never called in the Senate.
Before considering any other casinos, Osten wants to sort out delays on the state’s East Windsor casino, a joint venture by the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes, who own Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods, respectively. She has filed a sports betting bill that would permit Indian casinos to conduct sports wagering in person and online, conduct other types of internet gambling and allow the Connecticut Lottery Corporation to operate online Keno games.