Virginia Casino Gaming Commission; regulation of casino gaming, penalties. (SB19)

Introduced By

Sen. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth)

Progress

Introduced
Passed Committee
Passed House
Passed Senate
Signed by Governor
Became Law

Description

Virginia Casino Gaming Commission; regulation of casino gaming; penalties. Creates the Virginia Casino Gaming Commission as the licensing body for casino gaming. The bill sets up the licensing scheme for casino gaming and provides penalties for violations of the casino gaming law. Under the bill, casino gambling shall be limited to localities in which at least 40 percent of the land area is exempt from local real property taxation pursuant to federal law or Article X, Sections 6 (a) (1) through (a) 5 and (a) 7 of the Constitution of Virginia. The bill requires proceeds of the gross receipts tax and admission tax imposed on casino gaming operators to be paid as follows: (i) 10 percent to the locality in which the casino gaming operation is located and (ii) 90 percent into the Toll Mitigation Fund, which shall be used to mitigate the tolls established to support construction and maintenance of the Dominion Boulevard Bridge and Roadway Improvement Project and the Downtown Tunnel/Midtown Tunnel/Martin Luther King Freeway Extension Project. Read the Bill »

Outcome

Bill Has Failed

History

DateAction
12/06/2013Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/14 14100748D
12/06/2013Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology
01/09/2014Impact statement from VCSC (SB19)
01/21/2014Impact statement from DPB (SB19)
01/23/2014Impact statement from DPB (SB19)
02/03/2014Reported from General Laws and Technology with amendments (7-Y 5-N 2-A)
02/03/2014Rereferred to Finance
02/05/2014Continued to 2015 in Finance (17-Y 0-N) (see vote tally)

Comments

Wanda Foster writes:

Good evening Senator Louise Lucas,

I have written an email prior in regards to the Casino in Portsmouth, VA. As a resident and citizen of Portsmouth, VA, what can we do to further assist and support the decision on bringing Casino to the area. I visualize how it can offset the tolls placed on the downtown and midtown tunnels, but it can open up doors to new jobs in the area oppose to residents paying higher taxes. The idea would also bring jobs and new developments such as hotels, which would generate traffic to and from and most importantly bring revenue to the city. I'm disappointed that this suggestion didn't receive enough recognition and support, that is why I am asking what can the resident and citizens of Portsmouth and the Hampton Roads can do to bring this ideal to a reality. This area is the midway for traveling to Ocean City, Maryland, Arundel Mills, Maryland or Atlantic City, NJ for gambling. Maryland Live Casino at Arundel Mills pulled in $52.3 million; Hollywood Casino Perryville generated about $7 million; Casino at Ocean Downs generated about $3.5 million. Portsmouth Virginia can also receive a high revenue if we push for it. I hope there's a solution to assist in the City of Portmouth, VA profitting on a revenue. I appreciate your attention in the matter and look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you

Wanda Foster
WRF Investor, LLC
Portsmouth, VA