A Connecticut legislative committee wants someone else to decide which of the state’s competing casino expansion bills should go forward.

On Wednesday, the General Assembly’s Public Safety and Security Committee approved two different casino expansion bills by large margins following minimal debate, almost as if the legislators were trying to get these hot potatoes off their desks and onto someone else’s as fast as humanly possible.

In fact, legislators freely admitted that their votes were intended to allow the full House and Senate to weigh in on the proposals, both of which carry the potential for significant ramifications above and beyond their stated language.

The Senate bill would approve the state’s two gaming tribes opening a joint venture casino off tribal lands in the East Windsor area. The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, which operate the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos, respectively, say the third casino is necessary to compete with the MGM Resorts casino being built just across the border in Springfield, Massachusetts.