Mashantucket Pequot Contributions To CT Reach $3B Milestone

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe has now contributed $3 billion to state coffers from its gaming operations. The tribe marked the milestone in a ceremony Wednesday. WNPR’s Harriet Jones reports.

 

The event, held at the tribe’s museum, harked back to the humble beginning of gaming on the reservation with a bingo hall. The tribe’s Beth Poirier:

 

"In 1993, I was serving on the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council when together with the state of Connecticut, we signed the original memorandum of understanding that set in motion a landmark agreement."

 

That was a gaming compact which committed the tribe, and later also the Mohegans, to give 25% of their slot machine revenues to the state. This April’s slot take boosted the Pequots’ contributions over $3 billion, and state officials were on hand at the ceremony to thank and congratulate the tribe. But slot revenues have actually been on a downward trend since 2005, and have been especially hard hit by the recent recession. Tribal chairman Rodney Butler, who was elected just last year, says it will be challenging for the tribe to recapture its heyday.

 

"We all hope that we can get there at some point in time but clearly, with more competition, it’ll be a new working environment, we’ll have to figure out how to deal with that, and in that same sense, yes, strive to get back to where we were."

 

The state’s relationship with the tribes has not always been cordial, with fights over smoking bans and alcohol sales, and debate over the terms of the compacts themselves as the Governor proposed state run Keno. But state Comptroller Nancy Wyman says she doesn’t foresee big changes.

 

"At this point, I think the compacts are the compacts, the state going into gaming by themselves, right now to me would seem that all we’re going to be doing is losing a lot of money from something that’s already developed here."

 

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts state legislature looks likely to approve an expansion of gaming in the state, bringing tough competition for Connecticut’s casinos.

For WNPR, I'm Harriet Jones.