The failure of Virginia lawmakers to legalize skill games in the 2024 session has raised questions about a special summer session to address the issue. But with record profits coming in, some want the state to remake its gambling oversight system first.
“If you look on the right, that one-billion-dollar figure is really net revenue and we think that figure will change significantly as well,” said Collin Hood, a director at the Virginia-based consulting firm Guidehouse, explaining how much Virginia made from gambling in 2023 alone.
And that significant change he mentions is what he thinks will happen once Virginia remakes its state gambling enforcement system.
As it sits now, there’s online gambling, bingo, charity gaming, horse racing, lottery, five licensed casinos, and 10 licenses for Rosie’s Gaming Emporium. And oversight is spread out among a few state agencies. The idea for the subcommittee to Study the Feasibility of Establishing the Virginia Gaming Commission is to help put them under one roof, or at least explore consolidation options.
Senator Bryce Reeves is the chair of that committee. He’s excited to see the state’s gambling management become more efficient and profitable while still addressing problem gambling.
And while there’s still plenty of work to be done before a new agency is made, he sees no reason why legislators can’t act on skill games before then.
“We have to be adaptable, right? VGC is going to have to be adaptable to handle any new games,” he told Radio IQ.
Reeves also pointed to some other issues he considered unresolved, like changes made to veterans’ family benefits and a second shot at giving localities the option to raise a tax for school construction.
“We’re in a special session for the rest of the year,” he said. “We could come back, handle skill games, the school issue and everything else.”
But long-time skill game skeptic and vice chair of the VGC study committee Paul Krizek pointed at that long list of current gaming options and hoped legislators wouldn’t move too fast on machines that filled Virginia’s gas stations until recently.
“Hey, let's put a pause on all this expansion. Let's get this agency stood up.”
As for hopes for a summer session on the issue, Krizek is less enthusiastic.
“It's possible, I think it's going to be difficult to do so when everyone has vacation plans,” he warned. “And if a bill doesn’t pass, you don’t get all summer to keep trying. Come back next year.”
Consultants are expected to return to Richmond in June with what Krizek said should be about 3/4rs of the road map for Virginia’s future Gaming Commission.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
