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Motorists sailing by the MGM casino site along I-91 can easily see the seven-story parking garage rising on the 14-acre site encompassing three city blocks.

Thirty miles to the south in Hartford, a bid to create a competing casino — and keep tens of millions of dollars in gambling revenue in state coffers — is languishing. Legislators are no closer to a decision on whether to expand casino gambling in Connecticut than they were in 2015 when MGM began construction in Springfield.

MGM Resorts International says construction of the $950 million casino and entertainment complex is moving quickly. Steel skeletal framework will soon be in place and all buildings are expected to be enclosed by the end of this year.

In Hartford, long hours of hearings so far this legislative session haven't done much to help establish any direction. If anything, the path toward a third casino in Connecticut is less clear, with the addition of a second expansion bill.

Rep. Joe Verrengia, D-West Hartford and chairman of the committee that held the hearings, said it is possible that the legislature might not take any step this session.

"At best, there is a 50-50 chance," said Verrengia, who chairs the public safety and security committee, which oversees gaming. "I've never seen an issue that people are so divided on."

Competing Legislation

The debate over casino expansion off tribal reservations is among the hottest so far in this legislative session. It ranks alongside the budget deficit, relief for eastern Connecticut homeowners with crumbling foundations and legalizing recreational marijuana.

Casino expansion also has become entangled in the quest to arrive at a balanced state budget.

One expansion bill would give the tribal operators of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun the go-ahead to build a satellite casino in East Windsor. The gambling venue, its supporter say, is aimed at keeping gaming dollars from moving out of Connecticut to Springfield. East Windsor, they say, also would preserve thousands of industry jobs and the state's cut of annual slot revenues, projected to be $267 million this year.

The competing bill would open up the expansion process to more proposals from potential operators, in addition to the Hartford-area vision from the Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans. Known as the "MGM Bill," the legislation is aligned with MGM's aggressive lobbying efforts. MGM has pushed the state to consider other areas of Connecticut, arguing there was the potential for even more revenue for state coffers.

Legislative leaders say the expansion issue is not divided clearly along party lines. There is disagreement geographically, however, between legislative districts where casino workers live and those where casinos don't exist and constituents don't want to see them, they say.

And there is persistent pressure from legislators who oppose gambling expansion because of the social ills associated with it.

A million or more dollars has been spent on lobbying by the tribes and MGM.

Jepsen Opinion Looms

Two weeks ago, Attorney General George Jepsen sent shock waves through the legislature with an opinion, requested by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, warning that backing the tribes could cost the state its slot revenue and open up to state to court challenges.

"There are a lot of us who are nervous and concerned about the language in his opinion," House Majority Leader Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said. "That matters and it's a difficult hurdle to overcome, frankly."

Chief among these is the potential loss of slot revenue in a year when the state is facing a $1.5 billion budget deficit. The state is guaranteed 25 percent of the slot revenue at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun under decades-old agreements with the state in exchange for the exclusive right to operate casinos in Connecticut.

Jepsen warned that those revenues could be in jeopardy even if it is the tribes themselves expanding off their southeastern Connecticut reservations.

The Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans proposed amendments to the original agreements that must be approved by the federal government. Last year, the tribes produced a letter from the Bureau of Indian Affairs with guidance that said the matter shouldn't be a problem. However, the guidance wasn't binding and final approval is still needed.

In his opinion, Jepsen also cautioned the legislature to tread carefully given the change in presidential administrations and that President Donald Trump once pursued gaming interests in Connecticut.

"Whatever we do, we're going to have to account for that money," House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, said. "It was like we were traveling down the highway at 65 miles an hour, and with the attorney general's opinion, it has us slowing down to 25 miles an hour. It's like the first day of school."

Aresimowicz and other legislative leaders say they were happy to see both bills pass out of the public safety committee, so more discussion could take place. That will certainly occur with an expected third casino expansion bill in the legislature's finance, revenue and bonding committee.

"The problem for me and most of my members is that there are so many unanswered questions and even with those that are answered, there are gaps," said House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Seymour.

Klarides said that if the another operator were allowed by the legislature to establish a casino in Connecticut, it would certainly kill the revenue-sharing agreement with the tribes.

MGM has said it is interested in building in southwestern Connecticut and a casino, perhaps in Bridgeport or Danbury, could bring more revenue to the state than is now coming from Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. Annual slot machine revenues from the tribes have steadily declined from $400 million amid growing gambling competition in the Northeast.

Ritter cautioned that the legislature's choice may not be between the two options outlined in the competing expansion bills.

"Everyone assumes if we don't build in East Windsor, we will open it up," Ritter said. "Maybe not."

Malloy has declined to express how he is leaning on the issue, frustrating some legislators who are looking for some direction on what legislation Malloy might sign.

Supporters of the tribes' vision for East Windsor say there has been plenty of time to debate the expansion and there is no need to further complicate the issue with the competing bill.

"It's a stall tactic," said Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk. "This issue has been around for three years. There's no logical reason to delay this any further."

He adds, "The whole idea is not whether one endorses or doesn't endorse gambling. It's about saving thousands of jobs."

Opening Fall 2018

Last week in Springfield, about 2 million square feet of casino, retail, hotel and parking space continued to take shape where a tornado ripped through the city in 2011.

Slabs of concrete flooring were hoisted by crane to the top of what will be a 250-room hotel at the corner of Main and Howard streets. Workers walked along scaffolding where a seven-screen movie theater and a 10-lane bowling alley will welcome guests.

The casino floor — big enough for 3,000 slot machines, 100 game tables, a poker room and a high-limit gaming area — is in the center of it all. Many of the buildings are wrapped in gigantic tarps.

A steel topping off ceremony is planned for this week, marking a key milestone in the development.

Seth Stratton, MGM Springfield vice president and general counsel, said the weather has been an ally in construction.

"Given the relatively mild winters we've had and the highly organized and very motivated team, we're on schedule for our September 2018 opening," Stratton said.