Governor Glenn Youngkin released a lengthy list of amendments to an effort to legalize skill games last week, and impacted store owners are pushing back.
At a Shell gas station in Chester, Jarnail Singh is working behind the counter. He has been picking up shifts, something his business partners at nearly a dozen locations across the state are also doing, because the current ban on skill games required him to cut back on employees.
“These machines really helped us, running a business on a daily basis. We had customers come in and buy products which helped with daily sales,” Singh told Radio IQ.
Singh is a member of the Virginia Merchants and Amusement Coalition, a group which organized a two-day protest over Youngkin’s proposed amendments to bipartisan skill game legislation. Participating VMAC stores didn’t sell lottery tickets Monday and they plan to close for an hour Tuesday from 3:50 to 4:50 PM. The time slot is a reference to the 35-mile radius of a casino or historic horse racing facility that skill games would be banned from under Youngkin’s amendments.
Between the operating range limit and Youngkin’s recommended higher tax imposition, VMAC says it could close many locally owned stores. Singh called it, “Impossible.”
In a statement, Youngkin says he supports small business owners having access to skill games, and his proposed amendments would quote "establish an important regulatory framework" to grant localities and Virginians a voice on the issue.
But for Singh, he’s hoping his protest leaves a mark, even if some business is lost this week.
“It’s a risk we have to take, it’s the only way we can get our voices across,” he said.
The legislature returns to Richmond Wednesday where they’ll address all of Youngkin’s vetoes and amendments during a reconvene session.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
