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APRIL 17, 2001

Potentially dashing hopes for neighbors of tribal casinos and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut State Legislature on Monday questioned a number of budget proposals affecting tribes.

Rep. William Dyson, D-New Haven, said communities hoping to receive "impact aid" from two tribal casinos might not get it. He said the state's proposed budget, which will be released today, already accounts for an estimated $30 million in additional slot machine from the two casinos.

Communities near the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribe want 10 percent of the $30 million funneled to them. But Dyson's Appropriations Committee hasn't acted upon a bill to create a speial account for the purpose and told The New London Day he opposes the concept altogether.

"I wasn't aware that we have become a community of people suddenly concerned about a money-making enterprise," Dyson told The Day.

Dyson also said a provision giving Blumenthal $1 million to monitor the federal recognition process might be cut. Blumenthal wants the money to hire additional lawyers, ataff, anthropologists, and others to oversee and potentially challenge tribes in the state seeking federal acknowledgment.

"I would assume that each tribal member pays taxes and they are part and parcel of the fabric of their community. Yet, there is no defense they get from the attorney general's office," Dyson told The Day. "The attorney general does not deem himself to represent their interests at all."

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Additional impact aid is unlikely (The New London Day 4/17)