PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A lawmaker who was vocal four years ago about backing a bill to ban skill games in Commonwealth of Virginia is now co-sponsoring the effort that would legalize them.
State Sen. Louise Lucas, (D-Portsmouth) recently admitted she flipped her position on the form of gambling after doing more research.
In 2019, she voted to ban the slot like machines, also known as gray machines, that began appearing in bars and convenience stores.
“Look … I don’t want the gray machines in Virginia interfering with my casino — bottom line, end of subject,” Lucas said in 2019.
Lucas championed the legislation of casino gaming in Virginia. In January 2023, Rivers Casino Portsmouth became the first permanent casino to open.
But recently, she was part of a bipartisan group of lawmakers to advance a bill that would set up a permanent regulatory structure in which Virginia’s ABC agency would oversee the machines.
ABC license holders would be allowed to have five machines and truck stops would be held to a a 10-terminal limit. Skill games would be taxed at 15%.
State Sen. Aaron Rouse, (D-Virginia Beach) who is the bill’s chief patron, has estimated the machines could generate $200 million or more annually in new revenue for the state.
“I did further research,” Lucas said. “I realized that there was not going to have that much of an adverse impact on the casinos as a lot of people say they would. And so that’s the reason why there was a change of heart about that, and especially after I saw the adverse impact that was going to have on small businesses. And so having, you know, been an underdog myself, I just know I just couldn’t stand with that position any longer.”
However, it does appear there may indeed be some slight impact.
Rivers Casino Portsmouth brought in its second-highest monthly total in adjusted gross gaming revenue in December, the month after the Supreme Court of Virginia lifted a lower court injunction on the state’s ban.
Rivers brought in $23.8 million in December 2023, up $2.2 million from the previous month. Between April and November, the monthly average of adjusted gaming revenue was just over $21 million.
Rivers Casino itself has joined the Virginians Against Neighborhood Slot Machines coalition, which has spent more than $50,000 this week alone in the Hampton Roads TV market on ads linking skill machines to crime.
Lucas, as chair of the Senate Finance Committee, will have a substantial say on if the legalization occurs.
Lucas’ campaign has received more than $250,000 from casino owners and casino interests in the last five years according to campaign finance reports compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project.
In the last year, she has received a combined $105,000 from Va Operators for Skill and Pac-O-Matic the manufacturers of the Queen of Virginia Skill Games.
