CTNJ/Opinion:  Session 2017 produces few winners, many losers

Susan Bigelow is an award-winning columnist and the founder of CTLocalPolitics. She lives in Enfield with her wife and their cats.

It was not an inspiring finish. The 2017 session of the General Assembly wheezed to a close Wednesday night, leaving the state budget and many other major pieces of legislation undone. It was another disappointing session in a decade that’s seen little else.

So who did well and who lost out during this year’s session? Let’s start with the winners.

First, the state’s two federally recognized Native American tribes, the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans, won approval of a measure that would allow them to build a casino on the spot of a vacant Showcase Cinemas in East Windsor, just a few miles down the road from a much larger casino and resort complex opening in Massachusetts in 2018. MGM, the owners of the Springfield casino, lobbied heavily against the bill and vowed legal action. The entire purpose of this ridiculous scheme was to grow jobs in Connecticut — I’m sure it’ll keep lots of lawyers employed for a good long time.

Read the full story on CT News Junkie.