Connecticut lawmakers push for "mini casinos"

Democratic Representative Chris Rosario of Bridgeport is chairman of the 26 member Black and Puerto Rican caucus of state lawmakers, “We’re looking for jobs for the people of our communities. Quite often here in this building there are a lot of proposals and it seems like the inner cities are kind of left out of the conversation.”

Speaker of the House Rep. Joe Aresimowicz (D-Berlin) says he is open to the idea saying, “The thought process is folks would go there, the restaurants would benefit, the current OTB parlors would benefit. It would just be another reason for folks to head into the cities.”

The House Republican leader, Rep. Themis Klarides (R-Derby) is against the mini casinos and says there are enough Republican votes that will join Democrats to pass the East Windsor plan without the urban lawmaker, “On the heels of Aetna last week I think it is very clear that we throw money after money at every business that wants to leave and this bill would not cost any money and would save jobs.”

MGM’s spokesman said that the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs would likely strike down the mini casino idea. “This is about people in the House thinking that they are going to get the benefit of a bargain that will never materialize,” said Uri Clinton of MGM Resorts.