Will Legalized Gambling in Massachusetts Affect the Debate Over Indian Gaming in Connecticut? You Bet!

There are few states in which Indian gaming is as controversial as in Connecticut -- there, the Mashantucket Pequots and Foxwoods Resort Casino have drawn intense scrutiny and hyperbolic criticism. At the same time, of course, the revenue-sharing provisions of both the Pequots' and the Mohegans' compacts with the state have generated literally billions of dollars in state revenue. Last year, Connecticut's 25 percent take of slot revenue from Foxwoods and the Mohegan Sun amounted to $430 million, nearly 2 percent of annual state revenue. As in other states, Indian gaming also provides jobs -- some 20,000 of them -- in Connecticut.

Attacks on Indian gaming in Connecticut, such as those from Jeff Benedict, erstwhile expose author and founder of the Connecticut Alliance Against Casino Expansion, might be one thing, but competition from a neighboring state? That's a whole new can of worms. Some state leaders are now talking about how to protect Indian gaming in Connecticut, and showing more vocal support for the expansion of the Pequots' and the Mohegans' casinos.

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