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At the end there simply wasn’t enough time to hammer together a deal between the Connecticut legislature, governor and the gaming tribes for the tribes to transfer their interest from a casino in East Windsor to the state’s largest city: Bridgeport.

A spokesman for Governor Ned Lamont played a dirge over the failed proposal: “This 11th-hour proposal has not been fully vetted or reviewed, and with only one day until the end of session, it’s not in the public’s best interest to take up this matter.” It added, “Instead of resolving outstanding litigation, it puts the state at increased and immediate litigation risk from multiple parties.”

The proposed bill included the wording of an amendment from Senator Dennis Bradley, who represents Bridgeport that had been attached to a casino expansion bill that has been on the Senate calendar since April.

The tribes had been in negotiations with the mayor of Bridgeport, and legislators like Bradley, but not with Governor Ned Lamont, who decided to sit this one out after four months of negotiations with the tribes failed to achieve a solution.

The big winner in this failure seems to be MGM Resorts International, which has been fishing off the gaming tribes’ wharf, doing its all to sabotage their schemes, and with a fair amount of success, ever since the tribes first floated the idea several years ago of a satellite casino to help them blunt the effects of the opening of the MGM Springfield.

But the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes are left in the same position they were before: working on opening their $300 million satellite Tribal Winds casino in East Windsor. That casino is planned for 100,000 square feet of gambling space at the former Showcase Cinema site off Interstate 91. The cinema building is demolished. The tribes have federal go-aheads and are starting to get permits from the city.

The plan that went into play in the very last day of the legislative session would have turned the tables on MGM, which had introduced the proposal for a $675 million commercial casino in Bridgeport two years ago. This plan would have required the state to jettison the tribal state gaming compacts, losing all the 25 percent of slots revenues the tribes pay for their Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos. Last year that was $240 million. MGM argued that the state would more than make up for that by the taxes it would realize from a casino able to tap the New York market. Yonkers, for example, is 54 miles away.

Instead of the large MGM proposal, the tribes would have been allowed to build a smaller $350 million Bridgeport casino, with 2,000 slots, 100 table games, a 500-room hotel with a spa, dining and shops. The tribes would also have gotten $100 million in state subsidies, and the exclusive right to offer sports betting. They would have kept their authorization for the East Windsor casino and added the right to offer three “entertainment zone” venues offering sports books in three other towns.

But the tribes scotched the idea that they would give up East Windsor for Bridgeport. Andrew Doba, spokesman for MMCT, the joint development arm of the tribes, said in a statement: “There is no ‘either/or’ solution when it comes to East Windsor and Bridgeport, and we shouldn’t be playing two Connecticut communities against each other.” Doba added, “In fact, both municipalities can play a critical role in helping us to maximize jobs and revenue for Connecticut. We continue to have conversations with the administration, legislative leaders, the Bridgeport delegation and the mayor on a global solution that will also bring some level of investment in the Park City.”

Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim said this week he still hopes that a special legislative session this summer will reopen the issue. His administration has worked with MGM, who proposal promised 7,000 jobs for his city’s residents. Nevertheless he appeared willing for a smaller gain, hundreds and possibly thousands of jobs from the smaller tribal casino. He met with tribal leaders several times in the last two weeks.

Another Bridgeport lawmaker who participated in the talks, Rep. Chris Rosario, said before the proposal collapsed, “We’re trying to find a happy medium that is good for the state, good for the tribal nations and good for the city of Bridgeport The idea of the city of Bridgeport settling for a slot box, or some parlor, that’s out.”

The last-minute proposal would have undoubtedly led to a spoiler lawsuit by MGM, which hasn’t hesitated to use any legal or legislative tool at hand to foil the tribes. Other entities that want a piece of the sports betting pie would probably also have sued.

Sportstech, one of those stakeholders, argued for its inclusion in any deal. Richard McGuire, executive chairman of Sportech, declared last week “Sports betting delivered by both Sportech and the tribes would provide a competitive environment to thwart the illegal market competition, benefit the State and provide choice and protection for consumers.” He left hanging the threat of litigation: “However, we remain vigilant to any actions that seek to create an unfair advantage for others to the detriment to our 400 Connecticut employees.”

MGM’s position has been consistent for years: the state must have an open bidding process for a casino.

Governor Lamont has tried for several months to reach a plan that would include everyone, including MGM. However the tribes refuse to abandon the East Windsor casino, which is 14 miles from Springfield.

They also refuse to give up their insistence that exclusive rights to offer sports betting is guaranteed to by their existing tribal state gaming compacts that does give them exclusive rights to Las Vegas style casino games. However sports betting has rarely been included in the definition of what constitutes Class III gaming.

Lamont’s communications director issued this statement: “This administration has invested more than four months attempting to negotiate a fair, equitable and impactful deal for all parties involved in this matter, including Bridgeport.” She added. “At the start of those negotiations, the governor stressed the critical importance of an agreement which removed litigation, strengthened the partnership with the tribes and grows Connecticut’s gaming economy.”

The tribes say the governor is too worried about lawsuits, which they consider to be the cost of doing business no matter what business you happen to be in.

MGM has said it is poised to sue the state over violating its constitutional rights under the commercial and equal protection clauses.

Before the bill finally died, House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz had been doubtful about its chances, at least for now. “As it’s written, I think it would be difficult to cobble the votes together,” said the Speaker. “But is it an excellent starting point for negotiations and maybe some clarifications? Yeah, I think a lot of work went into it. Having the tribes and Bridgeport on the same page is very important. They haven’t got there until now, so if this is the starting point, I think it’s a good starting point.”

He had added, “This is like a hail Mary pass to try to get this to work out.”

MGM, for its part, had very little to say during the last days of the session, other than to issue this statement: “Conversations and proposals are certainly very fluid in the final days of the legislative session.” It added, “We continue to track developments closely.”

Commenting on the process that he temporarily stepped away from last week, Governor Lamont told Greenwich Time, “I didn’t want gambling, sports betting, i-gambling to get stuck in the legal mud between MGM and the tribes,” Lamont explained Friday. “I wanted something that would be legally facile and we could get this thing going. And number two I did want to see something done down in Bridgeport.”

Turmoil continued at Wynn Resorts last week as a new president was announced for the company’s two Las Vegas properties, Wynn and Encore.

CEO Matt Maddox announced that longtime Wynn Resorts executive Maurice Wooden is stepping down at the end of the year. Wooden has worked in many different roles for Mirage and then Wynn Resorts, and for the last five years was president of the Las Vegas properties.

Maddox wished Wooden well in announcing his successor.

“Replacing a leader who has dedicated so many years to one organization is never easy, and I believe it must be someone who understands our brand and shares our values,” he wrote in a note to Wynn employees. “I am pleased that Marilyn Spiegel will return to lead the team at Wynn Las Vegas and Encore. Our focus on guest experiences calls for someone who truly appreciates what Wynn means to our guests and employees. Marilyn not only shares that understanding, she helped to create it, having led Wynn Las Vegas from 2010 until 2013. Her deep experience in human resources and knowledge of what it takes to deliver the Wynn promise, make her the ideal person to lead Wynn Las Vegas into the future.”

Spiegel, formerly Marilyn Winn, had a long career at Harrah’s/Caesars Entertainment, directing its human resource department for many years, before taking over as a regional president overseeing several Las Vegas properties including Paris and Bally’s. She is married to banker and investor Tom Spiegel.

Sources tell GGB News that the board had first considered appointing former Mirage and MGM executive BobbyBaldwin before settling on Spiegel.

Also last week, Maddox announced that Wynn marketing head, Michael Weaver, would be named to a new position in the company, chief communications officer. Weaver will focus on the opening of Encore BostonHarbor as the company strives to get through an investigation of the misdeeds of former Chairman Steve Wynn and any involvement of the current company executives.

“Michel’s deep understanding of our brand and how we communicate it globally, his experience in media relations, and his work on the team that won the license for us in Massachusetts, make him the ideal person for this role,” said Maddox.

Replacing Weaver will be Scott Moore, who has marketing experience with brands such as Time Magazine, PBS and the Coca Cola Company and was most recently the chief operating officer at Augeo.

Both Moore and Spiegel will start on January 2.

It’s an exciting time in Atlantic City. Two new casinos are opening, with the focus being on Hard Rock. But Frank Leone, the CEO of Ocean Resort, warns experts not to miss his casino, the former Revel property. With more than 30 years experience in the Atlantic City market, Leone aims to correct all the errors made by the former Revel managment and take advantage of the vast amenities and features that were previously underplayed. Gamblers, he says, will be welcomed with open arms and rewarded with superior benefits. He spoke with Casino Connection Publisher Roger Gros after a tour of the new Ocean last week in Atlantic City.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, for the second year in a row, has allowed the state budget to lapse into law without his signature, without a plan to pay for the $32 billion in expenditures. As state lawmakers consider moves like borrowing money to close a $2.2 billion budget deficit, advocates of a package of bills to expand gaming in the state are faced with more uncertainty.

Wolf’s budget figures $250 million in revenues from expanded gaming in the state, to include legalized and regulated online gaming and daily fantasy sports, tablet gaming at state airports, online lottery sales and satellite casinos at off-track betting locations. However, in a repeat of last year’s negotiations, the final bill stalled in the state Senate over amendments added in the House, the most contentious being a plan to legalize video gaming terminals, or VGTs, at up to 8,000 bars, taverns and restaurants across the state.

Proponents in the House—led by the measure’s sponsor, Pittsburgh-area Rep. Mark Mustio—say revenues from VGTs would boost local revenues in their districts by replacing what are now unregulated, “gray-area” machines with five to 10 games per establishment that would be taxed at 37.5 percent, plus a 4 percent local-share assessment. The measure is vehemently opposed by the state’s 12 land-based casino operators, who view what could be as many as 40,000 newly regulated slot machines as competition that could cannibalize their casino revenues.

There also are major differences in the tax rates applied to online gaming in each chamber. The Senate is pushing a 54 percent tax on iGaming revenues that many deem unworkable, while the House is pushing a tax of 14-16 percent.

In any event, the state Assembly adjourned last week without addressing the gaming expansion package. Wolf is faced with quickly coming up with a way to balance the budget, as state creditors warn of a new credit downgrade and higher borrowing costs if the state doesn’t address its budget deficit.

“In the coming days, it is my hope that the General Assembly will come together to pass a responsible solution to balance our books,” Wolf said in a statement. “There are many options available to balance the budget in the long term, like those I presented earlier this year. Our creditors and the people of Pennsylvania understand a responsible resolution must take real and necessary steps to improve Pennsylvania’s fiscal future.”

Whether this urgency will result in a deal on gaming legislation in the coming weeks, or whether the issue will be left until the fall, is not clear. However, one part of the legislative gaming package will need to be addressed much sooner—later this month, the first payment of the new fiscal year will come due on the local municipal host fee paid by casinos to host communities.

Part of the gaming package is a measure to replace the host fee declared unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court last September. The old fee of 2 percent of revenues or $10 million, whichever was higher, is replaced in the bill with a flat $10 million fee, to be paid in four installments. While a challenge is expected to the new fee on the same grounds as the original fee—it places a disproportionate tax burden on smaller properties—lawmakers were expected to have the new fee in place in time for the regular payments.

The Pennsylvania legislature returned to Harrisburg after the Fourth of July holiday with the intention of finalizing the budget agreement and agreeing on the gaming package, but according to several press reports, VGTs remained a sticking point, with House members insisting on their inclusion and not enough votes in the Senate. The Assembly is in recess, but lawmakers are on call for special sessions.