Connecticut lawmakers are not going to pursue a state study of a proposed third casino.  A motion to refer the bill from the Commerce Committee to the Finance Revenue and Bonding Committee failed Thursday by a vote of 11-7. That vote means the study will not move forward. 

Kent-based Schagticoke Tribal Nation Chief Richard Velky supported the bill.

He says it's ironic that part of the state's effort to shut his tribe out of federal recognition was claiming the state didn't want a third casino.  Now Connecticut is poised to approve its first commercial casino, but he says only to the exclusion of any other interested parties.

Leaders of the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes had urged lawmakers to defeat the bill, predicting it could delay their plans to open a casino in northern Connecticut to compete with a planned $950 million casino in Springfield, Massachusetts. The tribes are still reviewing potential sites.