Foxwoods Employees to Take to the Capitol Wednesday

HARTFORD, CT – The Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot Tribes, in their continuing effort to protect Connecticut jobs and revenue, announced Tuesday that employees from Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods will be at the Capitol Wednesday, May 3, to talk with legislators about the importance of saving their jobs.

The employees will be joined by Rodney Butler, Chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council and Kevin Brown, Chairman of the Mohegan Tribal Council. (To sign up for Ledyard breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

More than 9,000 jobs are being threatened by the opening of a competing facility in Springfield, Massachusetts. The chairs will hold a media event that day at 10:30 a.m. outside the Legislative Office Building.

“As we enter the last month of session, it’s clear there is growing momentum behind our project,” Mohegan Tribal Council Chairman Kevin Brown said in a release. “Just last week, the town of East Windsor overwhelmingly reiterated their support for our proposed facility. Now we have only our bill and a competing proposal that will cost the state millions in tax revenue. The choice is clear. And the time to act is now.”

Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council Chairman Rodney Butler also spoke out on the issue.

“We’ve said from the beginning that we want to help the state we have called home for centuries,” Butler said in a release. “With the state’s finances taking a turn for the worse, it’s now more important than ever that we rally around our employees and fight to save Connecticut jobs.”

A recent study by Dr. Clyde Barrow found that the Request for Proposal (PFP) process outlined in the House Bill will actually cost the state $85.6 million in annual revenue.

The existing compacts between the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot Tribes and the State of Connecticut guarantee the state 25 percent of the slot revenue from Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods. Since the two casinos opened, the tribes have collectively contributed more than $7 billion to Connecticut.

The tribes recently announced they will guarantee slot revenue to the state if the legislature passes Senate Bill 957.

“With the development of a third casino operated jointly by Mohegan and Pequot, we are committed to guaranteeing our existing slot revenue arrangement with the state and are proposing compact amendments that will ensure those revenue streams are preserved," Chairmen Butler and Brown said in a letter to state leaders. "SB 957 does not jeopardize this revenue sharing, because it is expressly conditioned on approval of the Tribes’ proposed compact amendments.”

MMCT Venture was created to preserve jobs and revenue in the state of Connecticut. To learn more, go to www.ctjobsmatter.com.

Image via Shutterstock.