{"id":97739,"date":"2019-02-05T09:02:41","date_gmt":"2019-02-05T17:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=97739"},"modified":"2019-02-05T09:02:41","modified_gmt":"2019-02-05T17:02:41","slug":"virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Casino Bill Passes State Senate, Requires Comprehensive Study Before Referendum Vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Virginia casino bill has passed the state Senate, but the legislation first requires a comprehensive study on commercial gaming and the impact it would have on the Commonwealth to occur.<\/p>\n

\"Virginia
Virginia is for lovers, but not yet casinos. (Image: Virginia Tourism)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Senate Bill 1126, sponsored by Sen. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth), received 28 “yeas” to 12 in opposition. The bill would earmark commercial casinos for Bristol, Danville, and Portsmouth, and allow the Pamunkey Indian Tribe to build Native American gaming resorts in Richmond and Norfolk.<\/p>\n

For any of the potential five venues to receive full authorization, voters in those cities and towns would need to approve ballot referendums.<\/p>\n

\n

Casino developers in Bristol had hoped to have such voter approval this November, but amendments to SB 1126<\/a> will delay that step by at least a year.\u00a0Two businessmen have proposed a $250 million investment at the closed Bristol Mall.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Virginia is one of just 10 states that doesn’t have either commercial or tribal casinos.<\/p>\n

Governor Ralph Northam (R) has recently been the subject of much criticism after a 1984 yearbook photo surfaced showing a man in blackface next to another man in a KKK costume. Northam doesn’t remember if he’s either man.<\/p>\n

PredictIt bettors believe he will still be the governor at the end of the month, with shares of that outcome trading at 53 cents.<\/p>\n

Quick Study<\/b><\/h2>\n

During the Virginia casino bill’s consideration in the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology, an amendment was added requiring a gambling study to be executed. However, it only required the review to be concluded and made public by November 1, 2019 \u2013 just four days before Virginians will go to the polls to elect the entire Virginia Senate and House of Delegates.<\/p>\n

When SB 1126 reached the Senate Finance Committee, members there approved blocking any casino ballot referendum<\/a> from going before voters until at least 2020. Lucas had hoped to allow the study and vote to proceed concurrently.<\/p>\n

\n

It just struck me as being rather unusual that we were taking an informative study that was going to have absolutely no bearing whatsoever on informing the voters or informing us as a legislative body what the potential implications of gaming would be in Virginia,” Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment (R-James City) explained.<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“I’m not anti-gaming; I just think that the approach that has been offered can be improved in a more deliberate manner,” he concluded.<\/p>\n

Language in the casino bill passed by the Senate mandates, “The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission shall conduct a review of casino gaming laws in other states and report any findings and recommendations.” It additionally requires “that no referendum shall be held \u2026 prior to the publication of the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission’s findings.”<\/p>\n

Sports Betting Delayed<\/b><\/h2>\n

Lucas’ legislation includes sports betting in what constitutes “casino gaming.” That means regulated sportsbooks won’t arrive in the Commonwealth for at least a year, should SB 1126 continue to be lawmakers’ preferred path forward in deciding whether to end the state’s long opposition to gambling.<\/p>\n

In a recent release, the American Gaming Association (AGA) said half of the 50 US states will have \u2013 or be considering \u2013 sports betting this year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sports gambling is already operational in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia \u2013 four states that are within close driving distance of Virginia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Virginia casino bill has passed the state Senate, but the legislation first requires a comprehensive study on commercial gaming and the impact it would have on the Commonwealth to occur. Senate Bill 1126, sponsored by Sen. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth), received 28 “yeas” to 12 in opposition. The bill would earmark commercial casinos for Bristol, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":97743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,18,61,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nVirginia Casino Bill Passes State Senate, Requires Study Before Vote<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Virginia casino bill has passed the state Senate, but the legislation first requires a comprehensive study on commercial gaming before authorizing venues.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Virginia Casino Bill Passes State Senate, Requires Study Before Vote\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Virginia casino bill has passed the state Senate, but the legislation first requires a comprehensive study on commercial gaming before authorizing venues.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-05T17:02:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/6eb2cd93-8783-47f0-b36e-383223c46a95-large16x9_virginiaisforlovers.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"986\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"554\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CasinoorgDevinO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/\",\"name\":\"Virginia Casino Bill Passes State Senate, Requires Study Before Vote\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/6eb2cd93-8783-47f0-b36e-383223c46a95-large16x9_virginiaisforlovers.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-05T17:02:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-02-05T17:02:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\"},\"description\":\"A Virginia casino bill has passed the state Senate, but the legislation first requires a comprehensive study on commercial gaming before authorizing venues.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/6eb2cd93-8783-47f0-b36e-383223c46a95-large16x9_virginiaisforlovers.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/6eb2cd93-8783-47f0-b36e-383223c46a95-large16x9_virginiaisforlovers.jpg\",\"width\":986,\"height\":554,\"caption\":\"Virginia is for lovers, but not yet casinos. (Image: Virginia Tourism)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Legislation\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legislation\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Virginia Casino Bill Passes State Senate, Requires Comprehensive Study Before Referendum Vote\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\",\"name\":\"Devin O'Connor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Devin O'Connor\"},\"description\":\"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Virginia Casino Bill Passes State Senate, Requires Study Before Vote","description":"A Virginia casino bill has passed the state Senate, but the legislation first requires a comprehensive study on commercial gaming before authorizing venues.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Virginia Casino Bill Passes State Senate, Requires Study Before Vote","og_description":"A Virginia casino bill has passed the state Senate, but the legislation first requires a comprehensive study on commercial gaming before authorizing venues.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2019-02-05T17:02:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":986,"height":554,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/6eb2cd93-8783-47f0-b36e-383223c46a95-large16x9_virginiaisforlovers.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Devin O'Connor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CasinoorgDevinO","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Devin O'Connor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/","name":"Virginia Casino Bill Passes State Senate, Requires Study Before Vote","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/6eb2cd93-8783-47f0-b36e-383223c46a95-large16x9_virginiaisforlovers.jpg","datePublished":"2019-02-05T17:02:41+00:00","dateModified":"2019-02-05T17:02:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf"},"description":"A Virginia casino bill has passed the state Senate, but the legislation first requires a comprehensive study on commercial gaming before authorizing venues.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/6eb2cd93-8783-47f0-b36e-383223c46a95-large16x9_virginiaisforlovers.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/6eb2cd93-8783-47f0-b36e-383223c46a95-large16x9_virginiaisforlovers.jpg","width":986,"height":554,"caption":"Virginia is for lovers, but not yet casinos. (Image: Virginia Tourism)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/virginia-casino-bill-passes-state-senate-requires-study-before-vote\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Legislation","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/legislation\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Virginia Casino Bill Passes State Senate, Requires Comprehensive Study Before Referendum Vote"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf","name":"Devin O'Connor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","caption":"Devin O'Connor"},"description":"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97739"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}