(photo) Sen. Hwang, Coalition Vow to Fight CT Casino Expansion

Sen. Tony Hwang on Jan. 24 joined with a newly formed, non-partisan, 12-group alliance to oppose the legalization of off-reservation commercial casino gambling in Connecticut.

The Coalition Against Casino Expansion in Connecticut www.NoMoreCasinosInCT.org held a press conference at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford to announce the group’s intention to educate the public about the economic and social costs of more legalized gambling and to oppose efforts to open a commercial casino in the Hartford area.

The 12-member coalition listed 12 reasons why they oppose casino expansion in Connecticut:

1. According to a leading national economist, the long-term economic and social costs of introducing a casino into a new area heavily outweigh the benefits.
2. State-sponsored casino gambling represents a regressive tac on low-income residents.
3. With the northeast facing a growing casino glut, it is highly questionable whether a new casino could meet revenue and employment goals.
4. A new casino would not stimulate economic growth and would actually take jobs and revenue from the state’s existing casinos, local restaurants and entertainment industry.
5. Casinos spread gambling addiction, which leads to debt, bankruptcies, broken families, and crime.
6. The casino industry’s business model preys upon society’s most vulnerable people.
7. Casinos weaken local communities by draining their wealth, lowering property values and reducing civic participation.
8. A Hartford area convenience casino would encourage more people to gamble and encourage current gamblers to gamble more frequently.
9. If Connecticut’s casino tribes open a Hartford area casino, they can be expected to revive their original proposal to open two casinos in Fairfield County.
10. A Hartford area casino would open the door to neighborhood slot parlors, Internet gambling and sports betting.
11. Casino expansion could trigger a provision in the current state-tribal compact under which the tribes would no longer have to pay the state 25 % of their slot machine revenue.
12. Casino expansion has become an economic dead end for nearby New Jersey.

Coalition members include:

1. Connecticut Catholic Conference
2. Connecticut Conference of the United Church of Christ
3. Episcopal Church in Connecticut
4. Connecticut League of Women Voters
5. Family Institute of Connecticut
6. New England Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
7. Connecticut Association for Human Services
8. Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport
9. Advocacy Unlimited, Inc.
10. Farmington Valley American Muslim Center
11. Resident Bishop New England Conference of the United Methodist Church
12. American Baptist Churches of Connecticut

*Sen. Hwang represents Fairfield, Newtown, Westport, Weston and Easton. He can be reached at 800-842-1421 and at Tony.Hwang@cga.ct.gov. To sign up for his State Capitol e-alerts, visit www.SenatorHwang.com .