Tribes submit $1 million payment for casino regulatory costs

Connecticut's two federally recognized Native American tribes have made a $1 million payment to the Department of Consumer Protection to help cover regulatory costs for their planned Tribal Winds Casino.

An agency spokeswoman said Friday the department received the required payment from MMCT Venture, the business partnership between the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes.

The planned $300 million casino was first discussed publicly in 2014 and has been delayed because the Interior Department would not sign off on amended agreements. The agency last month made the necessary approvals.

Mashantucket Chairman Rodney Butler says the tribes plan to announce financing and a construction timeline soon.

The jointly owned and operated casino is being built to protect jobs at the tribes' existing casinos and to blunt competition from MGM Resorts' casino in Springfield, Massachusetts.