Legislation to allow five Virginia cities to begin pursuing casinos passed its first test in the General Assembly on Monday after lawmakers added an escape hatch that could let them change course next year.

The Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology voted 9-3-1 to advance a mashup casino bill that covers casino projects in Bristol, Danville and Portsmouth as well as the casino that the Pamunkey Indian Tribe is seeking.

The tribe is negotiating with Norfolk, but the tribe included Richmond in the bill as another potential casino site.
 
None of the five cities could allow a casino without putting the question to residents in a voter referendum.

The General Laws Committee voted to refer the legislation to the Senate Finance Committee for further discussion of its financial and regulatory implications.
Gov. Ralph Northam and other lawmakers have said they’d prefer holding off on major gambling legislation to give the state time to do a comprehensive study. Casino backers have urged the state to let their projects proceed quickly so Virginia doesn’t continue losing gambling dollars to other states.

On Monday, sponsors introduced modified legislation that attempts to accomplish both goals.
“There was a lot of movement over the weekend,” said Sen. Bill Carrico, R-Grayson, who sponsored the bill with Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth.

The bill would let the five cities hold referendums this fall, while also ordering a study to be completed by Nov. 1. The state would not give out any casino licenses until July 1, 2020, which would give lawmakers time to respond to the study’s findings and change the law accordingly in the 2020 legislative session.

One legislator suggested that even with the study, the bill remains a casino legalization measure.
“It doesn’t look like it’s a study to me,” said Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County. “It looks like it’s just a first step in a few-year process to making it happen. This is a gambling bill that has a small provision for a study in it.”

Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, who has voiced concerns that the bill would tax casinos at a lower rate than most other states, said he still had questions about it, but was willing to keep it alive so that work could continue.

“I view this as a process,” Surovell said. “And this bill’s probably going to be amended by three or four committees and the governor by the time we get it.”

The Pamunkey Indian Tribe had been pursuing a casino through a federal process for federally recognized Indian tribes. The tribe recently changed its approach, saying it would be willing to open its casino under the same commercial gaming laws that apply to non-tribal casino operators.

Separate legislation backed by the tribe (now rolled into the combined casino bill) would have let the tribe pursue a casino in Norfolk, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and Richmond. The modified bill only includes Norfolk and Richmond.

Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, said that if the tribe chose to pursue a casino in Richmond, it could avoid competition with the casino planned for Portsmouth.

A representative for the tribe said the parameters of the original bill included Richmond, and the change effectively eliminates Chesapeake and Virginia Beach as options.

The committee did not act Monday on separate legislation to allow sports betting in Virginia. As written, the casino bill includes sports betting in the types of gambling that would be allowed at the casinos.
 
 
gmoomaw@timesdispatch.com

(804) 649-6839

Twitter: @gmoomaw

This article is a reprint from Richmond.com.   To view the original story and comment, click here.