Former U.S. Attorney General Takes Up Connecticut Casino FightHolder Advocating For MGM Being Able To Compete For Casino |
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Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is now a partner in a law firm representing Las Vegas-based casino operator MGM Resorts International, and just last week Holder weighed in on the casino issue in the state of Connecticut.
MGM is engaged in a fight to compete for Connecticut’s third casino, despite the state basically giving the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes the exclusive right to build and operate a new casino.
“By granting the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Tribes the exclusive right to establish commercial casinos, Special Act 15-7 unfairly prevents any other individual or corporation from competing to provide the people and communities of Connecticut the best possible economic opportunities,” Holder wrote in a letter to the attorney general of Connecticut.
Gaming revenue at Connecticut’s two tribal casinos fell to under $2 billion in 2014. In 2006, gaming revenue was $3.2 billion. Revenues are expected to drop even more after MGM opens a new casino in nearby Springfield, Massachusetts.
A lawsuit from MGM says that Connecticut’s gaming act violates the law that mandates there be competition for the state’s third casino. Connecticut has argued the tribes aren’t being favored and that there is nothing barring out-of-state companies from competing. The law actually requires another piece of legislation to award a third casino license, the state said.
“I urge you to work with the leaders of the Connecticut legislature and encourage them to find constitutionally permissible means for achieving their stated objectives without depriving others of the opportunity to compete on a level playing field,” Holder wrote at the end of the letter.
According to the Associated Press, the office of Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen said it disagrees with Holder’s statements and conclusions.
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