Lawmakers will return to Richmond next week to consider next steps on a number of important bills. They'll need to make a decision on what to do about skill games.
Lawmakers are weighing the odds about how to handle the governor's amendment to their legislation allowing skill games at convenience stores and truck stops. The amendment says the machines cannot be within 35 miles of a casino or a historic horse racing facility, like Rosie’s Gaming parlors. Senator Aaron Rouse is a Democrat from Virginia Beach who says small businesses are not happy that the governor increased the tax rate on the machines.
"A Republican governor has increased taxes on small businesses," says Rouse. "I don't know if these are the effects of the full eclipse or not, but that to me was surprising, along with the 35-mile radius where that knocks out Virginia Beach, that knocks out Portsmouth, that knocks out a majority of the state."
Conservative groups like the Family Foundation were urging a veto. But Todd Gathje at the Family Foundation says a limited program is better than widespread neighborhood slot machines.
"It appears that there's going to be a limit of about 20,000. So, we'll see how his goes," Gathje says. "But I think that the governor and our elected officials have a responsibility to make sure that we don't become a place where it is just completely littered with a whole bunch of vices."
Now, supporters have a choice: do they want to accept a limited program now and try to expand in the future? Or do they want to bag it for this year and try again next year?
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
