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Virginia 'Casino Lady' Sen. Lucas Says State Has Enough Casinos

Tiffany Burroughs
Updated: 23 June 2023
2 min to read

In 2020, Virginia Senate Pro Tempore L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) led the charge to pass legislation that ended the state’s long-standing ban on commercial casino gambling.
Virginia casino gambling Richmond Petersburg

Known as the “Casino Lady” of Richmond, Virginia Senator L. Louise Lucas is switching up her approach to gaming expansion in 2023. Despite Lucas’ 2020 measure on gaming receiving bipartisan support in the state Senate and House of Delegates, Richmonders were the only citizens to reject a local referendum allowing for a casino in their city. Now, casinos are being constructed in Norfolk, Bristol, and Danville, and Rivers Casino Portsmouth opened last month with a $340 million price tag. Therefore, Lucas believes it would be wise for the state to slow down its gaming expansion initiatives before qualifying more cities to consider similar referendums.

Legislative advances have been made towards moving Richmond’s unused gaming license to Petersburg. However, Lucas is of the opinion that the state should permit the four pre-approved casinos to open prior to exploring further options. Lucas explained his view to WAVY-TV, saying, “Let’s start with these four and proceed from there”. Already, the Rivers Portsmouth and the Hard Rock Bristol have opened provisional casino spaces at the Bristol shopping centre, which is slated to become a $400 million tourist resort in 2021. Caesars Entertainment in Danville is also ready to commence its temporary casino in July, with a $650 million investment being put into Caesars Virginia. Moreover, the Pamunkey Indian Tribe is building the $500 million HeadWaters Resort & Casino in Norfolk, hoping to open a provisional gaming area by the end of the year. Nevertheless, Lucas seeks to pause further developments.

Lucas Seeks Pause

In 2020, Lucas introduced a bill which would permit cities that faced certain economic difficulties to pursue casino establishments. Petersburg did not meet the criteria which involved a decline of 20% in population from 1990 to 2016, having a poverty rate of at least 20% in 2017, and an employment rate of least 5% in 2018. Senator Joe Morrissey from Richmond and Delegate Kimberly Taylor from Dinwiddie said that Petersburg experienced similar financial struggles as the other approved communities, and a casino in the city would benefit the wider Capital Region. The Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission then conducted a feasibility study to assess the viability of allowing a casino in Petersburg.

The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) determined that a casino in Petersburg could be a lucrative venture; even with the hypothetical addition of a casino in Richmond, the Petersburg casino would continue to be profitable. The Cordish Companies, Petersburg’s desired gaming developer, has expressed that they would invest $1.4 billion into a casino resort in the area, only if Richmond cannot move forward with its potential gaming development. This matter is still open to consideration by the Committee.

Committee Consideration

Last week, Morrissey’s effort to make Petersburg a casino host in 2023 was voted down in a Senate committee. Although Taylor’s House Bill 1373 was passed with a 49-44 vote in the House, it is facing an uphill battle of being approved by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). It has since been handed over to the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology. Lucas said she will leave the decision up to the committee whether to have further deliberation on the matter this year, concluding, “We’ll leave it pretty much up to the committee to decide whether or not there is space for another casino.”

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Updated: 23 June 2023
2 min to read

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