Virginia city casino referendum gains momentum after key developments

Article by : Charles Perrin Jan 23, 2024

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Petersburg is hedging its bets on a new casino referendum seeing the light of day following a couple of key legislative developments.

Earlier this week, requests were met to overhaul Virginia’s 2020 commercial gaming bill, which qualified five cities to have casinos.

Although Petersburg was not explicitly named as one of the prospective host cities, an overhaul of Senate Bill 628, which would entail a tweak of qualifying conditions, could see attitudes shift in the 2024 Virginia General Assembly.

More pertinently, the endorsement of Sen. Louise Lucas (D- Portsmouth) throwing her weight behind the referendum is a telling sign.

Dubbed the “Casino Lady of Virginia”, Lucas, who fought for casinos for decades to be introduced to the state, repeatedly opposed Petersburg’s attempts to gain casino privileges, but has now embarked on a dramatic U-turn.

And with the support of the newly appointed Sen. Lashrecse Aird (D- Portsmouth), Lucas’ change of heart is rather telling.

Lucas and Aird have initiated a revamping of the 2020 commercial gaming bill, which at the time, mandated that only cities meeting certain economic hardships would be considered for bids.

While the population threshold has been discarded, adjustments to tax-exempted real estate and poverty criteria have been factored in.

In 2020, Petersburg’s unemployment rate stood at a staggering 21.1%, but the redesigned bill seems to be tailored to the city’s unique circumstances.

The push to bring a commercial casino to Petersburg has been a recurring theme over the past few years, but it has suffered multiple setbacks.

Voters in neighboring Richmond have twice voted against the Petersburg casino pitch, and last year the result was more damning than the outcome in 2021.

In terms of the legislative journey, Senate Bill 628 will bear resemblance to past sessions. This will involve hearings scheduled in the Senate General Laws & Technology Committee chaired by Aird and Lucas, who oversees the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee.

The casino landscape is constantly evolving in Virginia, and recent figures showed that the three commercial casinos raked in $58.52 million in revenue for December, underpinning the appetite for land-based gambling.

As far as Petersburg is concerned, there are a few more chapters to run in their story, but it has reason to be more hopeful of making a breakthrough this year.