Virginia state Senator Louise Lucas recently introduced SB716 that would establish a state casino gaming commission and limit gambling to localities where at least 40 percent of the land is exempt from local property taxes. The majority of gross receipts and admissions taxes would fund a Toll Mitigation Fund to ease fees that support construction and maintenance of the Dominion Boulevard Bridge and roadway project plus the Downtown Tunnel/Midtown Tunnel project, both in Lucas’ hometown of Portsmouth. “I’m still looking for a way to pay for tolls. I can’t see any other way we can raise that kind of money,” Lucas said.
Last year, Lucas pulled a similar bill from consideration when it became clear the measure would not pass. State Senator Frank Ruff Jr., chair of the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology, which will review the bill this year, said, “I don’t know where the support would come from. Two issues are in play. Some people don’t believe we should have gambling at all,” he said, and other lawmakers do not believe a single “stressed community” should have a solution not available to other areas. In addition, Ruff said, “casinos don’t create wealth by manufacturing or adding value to things.”
Nevertheless, Lucas said a casino in Portsmouth “would create jobs. But more importantly, it would create long-term funding” for transportation in the state, which is one of just 10 states that do have commercial or tribal casinos. Noted Lucas, lawmakers fight poker, craps and slots, while Virginians travel to Maryland, Delaware and Atlantic City to gamble. Census figures show 18.4 percent of Portsmouth’s residents live below the poverty line, compared with 11.3 percent of Virginia residents.
Despite the widespread notion that casinos have reached the saturation point in the U.S., Michael Wenz, associate professor of economics at Northeastern Illinois University, said, “Most places can still support lots more gaming. If a 30-mile area can support a casino, there’s still plenty of room for that.”
