Statement of Senator Cathy Osten on the Future of Gaming in Connecticut

State Senator Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) issued the following statement in advance of today's 1 p.m. Public Safety and Security Committee's informational hearing on present and future trends in gaming:

"For the past few years the Public Safety Committee has held these types of informational meetings to bring members up to speed on current trends in gaming, and I think that's especially important this year considering our new committee membership.

"But today's meeting is especially important for another reason: we are at a crossroads here in Connecticut regarding the debate about the future of online gaming, who will conduct it and how. To me, the answer is simple: our two tribal nation partners, the Mohegans and the Mashantucket Pequots, have earned the right to operate sports betting in Connecticut because they are our longstanding, homegrown business partners who employ thousands of state residents and who have provided over $9 billion in revenue to Connecticut since the creation of our gaming compacts 30 years ago.

"More importantly, the tribes have the legal right to operate any form of Class III gaming in Connecticut, such as online sports betting. Now Connecticut has to make a decision: is Connecticut going to continue our nation's disgraceful trend of breaking every compact that the United States government has ever made with a sovereign nation of America's first people? Or is Connecticut going to be the first government that stands by its compact with a sovereign nation, and expand and update that contract in a legal and moral and respectful and mutually beneficial manner? That is really what we are debating today. I know where I stand."