Senators who urged Lamont to slow reopening support casino plans
As Gov. Ned Lamont pushes the state’s tribal casinos to reconsider their plan to restart on June 1, several state senators who urged Lamont to delay reopening the state, support the casinos’ decision to open their doors.
The senators say the tribes’ situation is different in part because they are sovereign nations and in part because the state is seeing very few infections in New London County, where they are located.
In a letter to tribal leaders Thursday, Michelle Seagull, commissioner of the state Department of Consumer Protection, gave the tribes one day to provide comprehensive details about their plans to reopen on June 1. As of Friday afternoon, DCP had not received a response from the tribes, a spokesman said.
Lamont has urged the casinos — in strong language with threats to appeal directly to their customers — to wait at least until June 20, when he expects the state will begin to allow indoor dining at restaurants.
Nine Senate Democrats signed a letter on May 14 urging Lamont to delay the planned May 20 Phase 1 reopening of the state. At least two of those now say they support the tribes’ decision to reopen and none has spoken publicly in support of Lamont’s position.
“I understand where the governor is coming from, but I also understand the economic impact that entire area has had so that I think we need to look at the data,” said state Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, a pulmonologist and an author of the May 14 letter.
“The tribes are independent and sovereign nations so we do not have jurisdiction over them,” Anwar said. “I know that this particular region is thankfully one of the least impacted by the virus and this region has one of the highest economic impacts. So I am actually very interested in hearing their plan. I know they have been very much interested in protection.”
Anwar said Thursday he’d prefer to see the state open on a fractured basis, as opposed to statewide, but in the letter he helped author urging the delayed opening, the Democratic senators pointed out that “some areas of the state outside Fairfield County are still seeing increases.”
“Moreover, Connecticut has still not implemented widescale testing of essential workers, let alone of the population as a whole, nor do we have a statewide track and trace system in place or universal testing of our most vulnerable populations in congregate settings,” the senators wrote.
Anwar’s support of the casinos highlights complex political loyalties among Connecticut’s legislators, as the state attempts to balance reopening the economy with public health concerns. The casinos have been in a battle for more than five years to maintain a duopoly in the state, and senators from both parties have lined up behind them.
It appears no state Senator has publicly come out in support of Lamont’s opposition to the tribes reopening casinos.
“Gov. Lamont has refused to play politics or pick favorites throughout this pandemic, and all elected officials should follow his lead,” said Lamont spokesman Max Reiss.
Rep. Vin Candelora RNorth Branford, said he too understands the casinos’ plight because he owns a business, Connecticut Sportsplex, that remains closed, with employees furloughed.
“As you sit here and you watch businesses open,” Candelora said, “I think it’s imperative that we put the guidelines forward and allow these businesses to open and follow the guidelines …. We’re picking winners and losers based on a lot of data that we’re not even sure about.”
As for the casinos, he said, “We have to recognize that fact that they have that sovereignty and No. 2 it’s a huge economic driver for the state of Connecticut.”
But when it comes to the senators who asked Lamont to slow down the reopening, only to support the casinos’ reopening, Candelora was critical. “What I find odd about these senators is that all along we’ve been listening to the experts and suddenly they are the experts.”
“I don’t know what their motives are but to me it’s hypocritical on its face,” said Candelora, the deputy House minority leader and likely caucus leader in 2021. “To me it appears disingenuous and it appears that they are pandering to political pressure.”
State Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, who also signed the letter to Lamont, said that he understands the plight of the casinos and the economic impact their closure has had on southeastern Connecticut, though he still has some concerns about the safety of reopening.
“I know according to the Department of Labor there are some towns that have unemployment near 40 percent because of the impact of the closures,” Lesser said. “I take that pretty seriously. It’s very tough in my part of the state and other parts, so I can’t imagine how devastating that must be in that part of the state where the workforce has one major employer.”
But Lesser hedged on whether or not the casinos should reopen.
“I reject the idea that the public health measures and the economy are in competition with each other,” Lesser said. “The way we save the economy is by protecting public health. A workplace that becomes a hub of the virus is going to ultimately be worse off in the long run. People are going to want to stay away. It’s a really tough position. I have a lot of sympathy for the tribal leaders and know this must be a very difficult decision.”
State Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, on the other hand, blasted the tribes decision to reopen casinos, and urged the state’s Department of Consumer Protection to suspend the state regulated liquor licenses from the casinos.
For him, it’s about public health, but it’s also about fairness. He said he appreciates the lengths the casinos are reaching to in order to preserve social distancing, but called the casinos ability to serve food and alcohol indoors a double standard.
“The bigger issue is just the fundamental fairness issue,” said Stafstrom, who opposed the casinos’ efforts to keep other casino bidders, including MGM, out of Connecticut. “The tribes should not be allowed to use the state liquor permit to serve food and alcohol indoors when other places cannot. If that’s the only place open then it makes it that much more likely that people would seek that out instead of staying in their local communities, especially as we’re just trying to reopen and hope that people are not. They should not be allowed to serve alcohol when mom and pop businesses can’t.”
Dan Haar contributed to this story.