Virginia ‘Casino Lady’ Sen. Louise Lucas Says State Has Enough Casinos, at Least for Now

Virginia Senate Pro Tempore L. Louise George Lucas (D-Portsmouth) successfully championed legislating inward 2020 that ended the state’s long inhibition of commercial cassino gambling.

Dubbed the “Casino Lady” for her repeated attempts to take into account expansion slot machines and tabulate games in the commonwealth, Lucas is taking a different approach shot inwards 2023. After quaternion cities passed local referendums authorizing casinos inwards their towns, Lucas says the res publica should submit a breathing space before further expanding gaming and qualifying additional cities to deliberate gaming initiatives.

Richmond residents were the only metropolis to pooh-pooh their casino chance created through Lucas’ 2020 gaming measure, which garnered bipartizan bread and butter inwards the body politic Senate and House of Delegates. Casinos are being reinforced inwards Norfolk, Bristol, and Danville. Rivers Casino Portsmouth opened cobbler's last month at a be of $340 million.

Legislative efforts hold since ensued to relocate Richmond’s unused gaming license southward to nearby Petersburg. But Lucas believes the say should tolerate the casinos that have been approved to clear first.

I say we get going with these quadruplet and depart from there,” Lucas told WAVY-TV.

Along with Rivers Portsmouth, Hard John Rock Bristol has opened a temporary gaming blank space indoors the former Bristol Mall. Hard Rock’s $400 zillion permanent resort hotel is go under to open next year.

Caesars Entertainment in Danville is place to unresolved its temporary gambling casino installation in July. Caesars is investment $650 meg to establish Caesars Virginia.

Finally, the Pamunkey Amerind Tribe is constructing a $500 1000000 gambling casino resort inwards Norfolk on the banks of the Elizabeth II River called HeadWaters Resort & Casino. HeadWaters hopes to unfastened its possess provisional gaming blank this year.

Lucas Seeks Pause

Lucas’ 2020 bank bill allowed cities that met certain economical hardships to mull gambling casino undertakings. Petersburg Campaign did non take on the conditions, which included a population decline of at least 20% from 1990 to 2016, a lower limit 20% impoverishment place in 2017, and an unemployment order of at to the lowest degree 5% inward 2018.

State Sen. Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond), whose territory encompasses practically of Petersburg, has led the travail to characterise Petersburg Campaign as an eligible gambling casino host. Morrissey, as substantially as Del. Kimberly President Taylor (R-Dinwiddie) who introduced a similar note this year to permit Petersburg Campaign a casino privilege, say Petersburg Campaign has faced similar economical struggles and that a cassino in that location would benefit the full majuscule region.

A feasibleness study on the merits of allowing Petersburg to boniface a cassino was conducted past the state’s Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission. JLARC concluded that a casino inward Petersburg would be profitable, and it relieve would be if a gambling casino should ane 24-hour interval amount to Richmond.

But Petersburg’s preferred gaming developer, The Cordish Companies, says it’s only interested inward investing $1.4 billion into an structured gambling casino holiday resort inwards Petersburg if capital of Virginia is prohibited from farther considering a gaming development.

Committee Consideration

Morrissey’s 2023 legislative elbow grease to designate Petersburg as a gambling casino host failed cobbler's last hebdomad inwards a Senate committee. But Taylor’s measure remains alive, though it faces soak up betting odds of reaching Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk (R).

Taylor’s statute — House Bill 1373 — passed the House cobbler's last calendar week by a 49-44 vote. The Federal Reserve note has since been directed to the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology.

Lucas says she’ll defer to the citizens committee as to whether further discussion on the thing happens this year.

“We’ll allow it pretty much upward to the committee to settle whether or not there is blank for another casino,” she concluded.

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