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RICHMOND – It only took a few moments Wednesday afternoon for Petersburg’s casino referendum bill to clear its second legislative hurdle. 
On a 13-2 vote, the Senate General Laws & Technology Committee passed SenateBill628 and referred it to the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee for final committee action. The move, which was required because the bill carries a fiscal impact statement, should be nothing more than a formality at this stage because the committee’s chairperson – Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth – is a chief co-patron with Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg. 
The vote came one day after a General Laws subcommittee recommended the measure gothrough.
The bill resets the parameters for economically challenged cities to conduct a referendum about bringing a casino to their towns. Those parameters, which include minimums on the rates for tax-exempt real estate, poverty and unemployment, put Petersburg into consideration for such a vote and removes the city of Richmond as a potential fifth host city. 
Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Richmond were the original five cities chosen by 2019 legislation bringing casinos to the commonwealth. Of those, only Richmond’s referendum was rejected – and that happened twice in a close 2021 vote and a much wider majority last year. 
Those rejections put Petersburg into the fray as a possible casino host. 
Petersburg’s path to the referendum is far smoother this session than when it was pushed by Aird’s predecessor, Democratic Sen. Joe Morrissey. 
Morrissey’s politically aggressive actions to put Petersburg into consideration were rejected by his colleagues in the Senate and his counterparts in the House of Delegates. Lucas, a co-patron this year, nailed the lid shut on the issue in Senate Finance last year, later citing Morrissey as a major reason for failure. 
Last June, Aird – a former Petersburg delegate – overwhelmingly ousted Morrissey in the Democratic primary. She cruised to victory in the November election. 
Where last year when opponents were lining up against it, this year, only two General Laws committee members voted against it – Democrat Danica Roem of Prince William County and Republican Chris Head of Botetourt County. 
The Aird-Lucas bill is also getting some traction from other pieces of legislation that could silence Richmond voters on the matter for at least the next three years. 
Sen. Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico County, put in a bill that also rewrote the parameters of the casino-host city requirements to eliminate Richmond. Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Orange County, submitted legislation that would block any city whose voters reject a casino referendum from voting again for three years after the rejection. 
The rejection was at the core of the battle between Petersburg and Richmond over the casino. 
After the 2021 narrow defeat, Morrissey began the drive to bring the casino vote to Petersburg despite Richmond’s request for a do-over. After Senate Finance shot down the Petersburg referendum the first time, Morrissey – who at the time represented both Petersburg and south Richmond in the Senate – lobbied for a budget amendment blocking any revote until the Joint Legislative Audit Review Commission studied Petersburg’s feasibility as a casino host. 
That report revealed that while Petersburg could generate $204 million in state gaming revenue as a host city, more revenue would be generated if casinos were in both Petersburg and Richmond. That refueled Richmond’s redo push that led to Petersburg’s defeat last year. 
Following a multi-million dollar advertising campaign by chosen Richmond casino vendor Urban One and Churchill Downs seeking referendum approval, 61% of voters in Virginia’s capital city rejected the second referendum. 
Reeves said Wednesday afternoon his proposal to block a vote for three years was done to keep special interests “from trying to buy their votes.” 
Petersburg jumped back into the casino picture, this time with new legislative leadership, new legislative allies and a vow to handle the process differently than previous years. 
For its part, Richmond does not appear to at least publicly wan t to block the Petersburg casino. Shortly after the second rejection, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said the city was ready to move on to other priorities.
This session, all of Petersburg’s casino action is being generated in the state Senate. Del. Kim Taylor, R-Dinwiddie County, sponsored companion legislation last year but said this time around, she would encourage her House colleagues to adopt the Senate version when it comes to them after crossover, when each chamber acts on their counterpart’s bills. 
Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI. 

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