Casino
Expansion: Existing Casinos
Casino
Expansion: New Casinos
Casino
Benefactors
Casino
Investors/Supporters
Cost
to Citizens, Communities, State
Environmental
Impact
Federal
Tribal Recognition
Traffic/Highway
Infrastructure
Tribal
Land Claims
State
Legislation
New
England Issues/Legislation
Casino
Expansion: Existing Casinos
In just 10 years, Connecticut's two existing casinos, Foxwoods
Resort and Mohegan Sun have grown to be the two largest casinos
in the world and they have plans to expand further.
Casino
Expansion: New Casinos
Casino development is not restricted to historic Indian reservations.
Once federally recognized, tribes are free to buy land anywhere
in the state and apply to have it converted by the federal
government into sovereign tribal land--where they can build
casinos. High-risk areas are currently southeastern Connecticut,
northeastern Connecticut, Danbury, and Bridgeport.
Casino
Benefactors
Connecticut's two casinos generate over $X billion in revenue
annually. They pay no state or federal taxes, greatly enhancing
the net profits they receive. These profits provide hundreds
of millions of dollars per year for individuals who have joined
the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes and the casino
investors.
Casino
Investors/Supporters
Connecticut's casino investors and supporters include wealthy
developers from out of state and overseas who are pouring
millions of dollars into expansion plans and federal tribal
recognition efforts.
Cost
to Citizens, Communities, State
The cost of casinos to individuals, communities, businesses,
and the state is enormous. Loss of tax revenue, Increased
traffic, lower property values, loss of business, and social
costs that include bankruptcy and gambling addiction are the
price we pay to have casinos in our state.
Read
the Hartford Courant article
Environmental
Impact
Connecticut's casino
expansion projects are not required to undergo a full environmental
review, yet the casinos take a huge toll on the surrounding
towns and their infrastructure including roads and water rights.
Federal
Tribal Recognition
Federal recognition of an Indian tribe's existence grants
that tribe sovereignty, establishing a government-to-government
relationship between that Indian tribe and the United States.
This sovereign status exempts certain tribal lands from state
and federal taxes, and from state and local laws and regulations
(Government Accounting Office, 2001). It makes the tribe eligible
to establish gaming operations.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
regulatory process for granting such recognition has come
under much criticism. It is important that legislation be
passed to improve its integrity and fairness.
Traffic/Highway
Infrastructure
Casino traffic is one of the worst kinds of traffic. Casinos
generate high volumes of traffic 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week, 365 days a year that can cause bumper to bumper conditions
8-14 hours a day. Casino traffic does NOT attract pass-by
traffic and as a result does NOT generate revenue for businesses
near the casino. Related issues are economic costs resulting
from travel delays and diminished air quality.
Tribal
Land Claims
Several tribes seeking federal recognition have filed, or
in the past have filed, lawsuits in federal court asserting
claims against private, municipal, and state property owners
in Connecticut. These claims allege that property taken away
from Indians was not properly authorized by the government,
and was a violation of either the Nonintercourse Act of 1790,
a 1763 proclamation of King George III of Great Britain, colonial
law of 1717, or other authorities (Connecticut Office of Legislative
Research, 1993).
Since a land claim means that the
owner of that land would no longer have clear title to their
property (prohibiting the owner from selling their home or
borrowing against its value), tribes often use land claim
threats as leverage for extracting agreements from state and
local governments about casinos. The Golden Hill Paugussett
tribe has stated they will file land claims covering as much
as one third of Connecticut in their fight to open a casino
if they are successful in their quest for federal recognition.
State
Legislation
Visit
our Legislative Action Center
New
England Issues/Legislation
The New England
region is a thriving market for casinos. A Massachusetts tribe
has plans for a casino that will sit partially in Connecticut.
New England's Issues are our issues.
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