Philadelphia — The morning after U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren urged a cheering crowd at the Democratic National Convention to get money out of politics, money was talking.
More specifically, money that has been earned and has the potential to grow in Connecticut’s Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan-owned casinos, now under threat as MGM Resorts International builds a new mega casino in Springfield, Mass. and attempts to block the construction of a third native-owned casino in Connecticut that would pose competition.
Tribal-owned and operated casinos in Connecticut are in trouble. That’s because the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has signed off on construction of a proposed $950 million resort casino owned by Las Vegas-based luxury resort and casino mogul MGM Grand. Revenue at Connecticut’s two tribal casinos — the Mashantucket Pequot ’s Foxwoods and Mohegan’s Mohegan Sun — has already dropped. New competition from a Springfield location, where MGM plans to break ground on and open in 2018, threatened to set off a wave of job loss and possible closure. In response, the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes proposed joining forces to open a third satellite casino together in the Hartford area. MGM has supported a federal bill aimed at blocking the tribes from building an off-reservation casino in Connecticut.
The crowd.
That’s where money, and folks who do not want to see it disappear, started talking during a breakfast held Tuesday for Connecticut’s elected officials and convention delegates. The breakfast was sponsored by the two tribes focused protecting Connecticut’s casinos’ market share. Connecticut elected officials spoke in support of the tribes’ efforts at the breakfast. Gambling and alcohol addiction, both of which have long plagued the American Indian community, were not discussed.
Gathered in a dimly lit hotel ballroom at the Doubletree Hotel near the Philadelphia airport, the event was emceed by Connecticut Democratic Party State Chair Nick Balletto. Connecticut U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, Montana U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, Connecticut U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney and others listened intently to Kathy Regan-Pyne, corresponding secretary for the Mohegan Tribal Council, and Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council Chairman Rodney Butler, as they described the toll that the new MGM casino would take on Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, and the need for legislative support behind their new joint plan for a third casino.
Fueled by their still-warm breakfasts, the senators and Congressman took to the mic to speak out against casino giant MGM, pledging support to the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes’ new venture.
Butler.
Others in attendance, including Connecticut’s U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, echoed the sentiment but called, immediately, for a unified party platform instead of focusing on the casino.
“We’re a small delegation … we work together very well, and one of the things we work together on is standing up for our two tribes, standing up for Indian Country,” Murphy said, revving up a just-caffeinated crowd of delegates as he spoke. “These big Las Vegas-based casinos are coming for Connecticut. They want to make decisions for us, as to how we go about our relationships with the tribes and how we protect Connecticut jobs. Dick [Blumenthal] and I … we’re not going to let decisions on tribal sovereignty be made outside of Connecticut. We’re with you [the state’s tribal councils] on that fight.”
Tester, who is a farmer by trade in Montana and is now the top Democrat on the Indian Affairs Committee, piggybacked on that statement, stressing the importance of the casinos in state funding.
Tester.
“As the Pequot and the Mohegan were talking about, fact is … when you’ve got the big boys coming in, it’s a real problem. I can tell you: It’s kind of like a vacuum cleaner taking money out of the state. It won’t be around. We’ve got to fight this — we have in the past. Your delegation is leading that charge to make sure that we do the right thing for Connecticut and for the tribes and quite frankly for business.”
He also drew a comparison between the casinos, which are independently run, and the upcoming race for the U.S. Senate, in which “we need to win a majority” in the next election.
“We want to make sure that people are treated correctly — especially our Native American folks, people who we have a responsibility to in this country,” he said. “Our only challenge is one thing. And it’s the same thing that the Pequot-Mohegan are dealing with in gaming. It’s money. We’re seeing a ton of money coming into these senate races … as Democrats, we understand that money doesn’t win, hard work does.”
For other speakers, the money issue was more personal. As Courtney expressed, his district in in southeastern Connecticut includes the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes.
“The jobs that were described, a lot of those are located in my congressional district, and they make an impact every single day,” he said. “And I want to say … they [the tribes] are not sort of stuck. They are moving forward with some really pretty exciting developments that’s happening down there … the Tanger outlett mall created about 1,000 new jobs, and the Mohegians announced that the [thing] hospital property, that has been treading water … getting the Mohegans in as the developer, I think, is so important because this is an owner that is not going anywhere. These guys were here before Connecticut even existed as a state.”
He was referring to the Norwich State Hospital property, in which the Mohegan tribal council has expressed serious interest.
The CT Mirror’s Mark Pazniokas has more of the tribes and political influence in this account of Tuesday’s breakfast.