Virginia Lawmakers Voted for Sports Betting and Casino Bill

General Assembly for the state of Virginia, officially approved a bill that would allow legal sports betting, as well as give the permission for the opening of the first land-based casino.

The only thing left to do before the bill finally becomes the law…

…is to get approval from Governor, Ralph Northam. When he signs the bill into law, the process will be finalized.

The Virginia Bill

The bill ed this past Saturday after Virginia Senators voted 30-10 in favor. The House also voted 64-27…

…and although the House wanted to reconsider its decision, the bill again ed with 64 votes in favor of it and 33 against it.

Now, everyone waits just for Governor Northam to sign the bill and turn it into law by doing so.

The Substitute Senate Bill 1126 was introduced by Democrat Senator Louise Lucas. The plan in this bill is to legalize casino gambling while limiting it to cities with an unemployment rate of at least 4%, a poverty rate of 20%…

…and the ones that had a population decline of at least 7% between 1990 and 2016.

First Casino Construction

The bill would permit Tribal casinos to be constructed in cities with a population of at least 200.000, in which 24% of all real estate is exempt from local property taxes.

The Virginia bill paves the way for casinos in Portsmouth, Danville, and Bristol…

…as well as in Norfolk and Richmond where Pamunkey Indians are already interested in constructing their casinos.

In order to open a casino in its town, each local authority will have to sign off a referendum and get the approval from the residents first.

Each city that wants to participate will receive only one license, and by obtaining it, they will be permitted to offer table, dice and slot games in their casinos…

…as well as sports betting in land-based venues.

Online and mobile gambling is not discussed in the bill.

Official Casino Operator

The Virginia Lottery Board would be the main casino operator and the only company that would be in charge of regulated gambling market in Virginia.

Each new licensed casino would have to pay a tax rate of around 13% and 15% of gross revenue.

When Will the Bill Become Official?

If the governor signs the papers, the bill won’t be official until January 1, 2020, because the Virginia Lottery will have to start writing its list of rules and regulations.

The plan is to publish a completed list by June 30, 2020, and the licenses will then be issued from July 1, 2020.

Virginia’s Legislative Audit and Review Commission will have to make a study on the social and economic impact of casinos in targeted locations…

…and present the final observations by November 1.

It is planned to also incorporate a self-exclusion program so that everyone who wants to be put away from gambling will be able to.

Source:

“Virginia General Assembly clears sports betting bill”, igamingbusiness.com, February 25, 2019.