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With a constituency strongly opposed to the expansion of casinos, state legislators are scrambling to find ways to change state law in an attempt to impact the federal government's decisions to recognize American Indian tribes.
The latest is a proposal by state House Minority Leader Robert Ward that would strip state recognition from the three tribes that are the furthest along in the federal process and force them to reapply under new standards.
Tribes that are recognized by the federal government's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) can open casinos under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988.
Public officials, residents and business leaders have all expressed deep concern over how a third casino in the state might impact quality of life in Connecticut.
"When the federal government decides to officially recognize a tribe, it puts a great deal of emphasis on the fact that the state has recognized the tribe," said Ward in a written statement. "Not much analysis was done by those on the state level to give that recognition, and that needs to be changed."
Ward's proposal comes on the heels of the BIA's controversial decision in June to grant preliminary...