Editorial: Negotiate smoking at Connecticut casinos

Monday, March 24, 2008  

"Gov. Rell is the state's chief executive officer. The two tribes are sovereign nations. They are willing to talk about expanding the ban at their casinos, but they want to talk government to government.

Why can't Gov. Rell and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal sit at a table and talk with tribal leaders? If the governor needs other staff or legislators in on the discussions, she can ask for them.

But the governor's office's explanation, that she is waiting on House Speaker James A. Amann, D-Milford, to get back to her about his suggestion to put together “a group” to address the issue, is preposterous. Why would a Republican governor wait on a Democratic lawmaker to take charge on a matter as important as this?

The state has already recognized the tribes as sovereign nations. The state has a compact with each tribe that spells out the terms under which they operate their casinos and, in those compacts, the tribes agree to adopt public health standards at least as rigorous as Connecticut's.

A few years back Connecticut implemented a ban on smoking in public places, and now there is a push to force that ban on the casinos. Attorney General Blumenthal has ruled that the state can legally expand the ban to the casinos, but recommended it happen through government-to-government talks."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Stop Blowing Smoke (The New London Day 3/22)
pwday