Don Vaccaro: Connecticut tribes need another casino to address competition

Atlantic City is in a desperate downward spiral. Four of its 12 casinos closed in 2014, putting 8,000 people out of work. Foreclosures have ballooned and the city teeters on the brink of bankruptcy. Just this week, Atlantic City officials began negotiating a state takeover of its municipal finances. The famed boardwalk has become a haven for homelessness and addiction. A key reason for the Atlantic City casinos' failures is the increased competition from newer casinos in New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Maine and Connecticut.

But Atlantic City's woes could become Connecticut's unless the Foxwoods Resort Casino and the Mohegan Sun casino and the state act quickly to strengthen the existing casinos and move ahead with a new casino in Greater Hartford if, as already has been widely discussed, that would provide a buffer to competition from Massachusetts.

Since the Connecticut casinos opened more than two decades ago, they have contributed roughly $7 billion to the Connecticut Special Revenue Fund, as well as billions to the state economy and countless direct and indirect jobs. Additionally, they have brought in innumerable out-of-state visitors who have also contributed to the local economy.