Virginia is closer than ever to seeing casinos dot its landscape. Last Friday, Governor Ralph Northam gave his signature to Senate Bill 1126 (SB 1126), which opens the doors to legalized gambling houses in Old Dominion. However, there is still more work to be done.
SB 1126 allows host cities to hold votes to authorize casinos in their back yards. Because of voting schedules, any possibility for referendums to be included on ballots won’t happen until November of next year at the earliest.
The bill authorizes the state’s Lottery Board to oversee gambling and start the process to have referendums appear on the ballots. It also orders a comprehensive study to determine the fiscal and social impact of casino legalization, which is due by the end of this December. Virginia’s lawmakers will most likely have to revisit the bill following the submission of that study and vote again during the next legislative session.
This past January, Northam stated, “We just want to be responsible and do it the right way. The reason I’m open-minded is we have a lot of resources and a lot of people in Virginia that go to other states. If that’s something that they enjoy, we would like to keep that revenue here in Virginia. If we do that, we want to do it correctly.”
Only five cities would be authorized to host casinos—Portsmouth, Danville, Bristol, Richmond and Norfolk. The first three are considered to be economically-challenged cities that need a boost and the latter two are both included as potential sites for casinos operated by a Virginia native Indian tribe, the Pamunkey.
Bristol could see a $250-million project if all goes according to plan. A spokesperson for backers of the project indicated that the group is still putting its support behind the approval process, adding, “We’ve got a ways to go but there is a commitment by lots of parties to go through this process that will hopefully allow us to move forward.”
Virginia currently doesn’t have many gambling options, one of the few states that has shied away from legalizing casinos over the years. The only options are charitable gaming, pari-mutuel horseracing and the state lottery. However, when MGM opened the National Harbor across the border in Maryland, interest increased and the state began working deals to seek casino legalization.
