Members of the General Assembly are getting ready for the upcoming session. And so are lobbyists who represent gambling interests.
Special interests in the gambling industry are hoping to strike it rich during the General Assembly session next year. That’s according to the latest lobbying disclosures posted by the Virginia Public Access Project. Pace-o-Matic spent almost half-a-million dollars. Caesars spent more than $400K. Churchill Downs spent almost $300,000. And MGM spent more than $200,000.
David Ramadan at George Mason University's Schar School says those numbers are likely to translate to action.
"There are a lot of signs that tells me that there will probably be some movement on both casinos and skill games in the upcoming session," he says.
Virginia currently has a patchwork of different agencies that regulate casinos and horse racing and charitable gaming and even online gaming. And, of course, who is going to regulate skill games if they’re legalized?
"So, we would have five agencies regulating gaming and it's outrageous," says Delegate Paul Krizek of Fairfax County. "Every state that has gambling, which is frankly probably all of them now, has been working towards consolidating their efforts and having one regulatory body that can handle this."
Lawmakers might be willing to roll the dice on legislation to legalize slot-machine style games at convenience stores and truck stops, as well as potentially add a new casino in Northern Virginia.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
