HARTFORD, CT — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy issued a travel ban that starts at 5 a.m. today and Connecticut’s legislative leaders agreed to allow a legislative committee to delay a vote on casino expansion.
The state Capitol building will be closed Tuesday as a storm that could dump up to six inches of snow per hour bears down on the state. Wind gusts could be as high as 60 mph and blizzard conditions will exist as early as 9 a.m.
The Public Safety and Security Committee will hold its vote on a bill authorizing two federally recognized tribes to build a casino in East Windsor and another that would open the bidding process to all casino operators on Wednesday. The committee has until 5 p.m. Thursday to vote on legislation it has raised and debated this session.
Since the committee doesn’t meet on Wednesdays it needed permission from leadership to hold a special meeting.
Meanwhile, on Monday evening, Malloy said forecast models are showing the potential for 22 to 30 inches across central and western Connecticut with lesser amounts near the southeast coast.
There are 634 state plow trucks and 250 contractors ready to begin clearing the roads, but Malloy warned it won’t be easy to keep up with the snow, which is why he ordered the travel ban.
“At 6 inches of snow per hour, it will be difficult for us to stay on top of that,” Malloy said during a Monday evening briefing.
He said bus and train service will be impacted by the storm. He said they don’t anticipate bus state service to be running Tuesday and train service will be greatly curtailed.
Malloy said the storm will be similar to one the state experienced Feb. 8-9, 2013. That storm dumped almost three feet of snow on the state, caused power outages, and five fatalities. Municipalities struggled to keep up with the snowfall that year and the state was unable to reopen for business a few days after the storm, which happened on a weekend.