Petersburg's hopes for a casino come down to Senate committee showdowns this week
RICHMOND — Del. Kim Taylor ran the table in the House of Delegates with her bill to set up a casino referendum this November for Petersburg. Wednesday, she'll have to bring her best poker face if she hopes to continue that winning streak in a Senate that already has busted its own version of the legislation, and could be poised to strike again.
The Senate General Laws & Technology Committee will take up House Bill 1373 Wednesday 30 minutes after the Senate adjourns. The last time a referendum took this trip was Feb. 1, when Senate GLT passed it with a requirement that the casino vendor pay the same wages to employees who perform similar duties. However, before it could make it to a floor vote, the bill had to pass through the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee, which killed it — the second year in a row that Petersburg-related casino legislation died in that committee.
Taylor, R-Dinwiddie County said Monday she was "cautiously optimistic" about Wednesday's vote.
Unlike the House of Delegates where Taylor's party is in control, the Democrats hold a 22-18 advantage in the Senate. The Senate version of the casino referendum was sponsored by a Democrat in Sen. Joe Morrissey of Chesterfield County, but that did not guarantee the bill's passage. As a matter of fact, Democrats have been leading the opposition to it.
Senate GLT amended Morrissey's bill Feb. 1 to require language that Petersburg's casino vendor be required to pay the average wage to all employees in a specific line of casino work, such as restaurant staff and casino dealers. Two days later, the bill then went to the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee for its blessing to go to the full Senate, and that committee wound up killing it by one vote.
"I know Republicans want to provide economic opportunity to Virginians, and I hope Democrats in the Senate will, too," Taylor said Monday afternoon.
However, one of those Senate Republicans told The Progress-Index Monday afternoon he would only support Taylor's bill under two circumstances: no wage amendment and no Petersburg exclusivity on the casino.
"If they don't put [a wage amendment] in, and they don't make it just for Petersburg only, then I will support it," Sen. Frank Ruff, R-Mecklenburg County, said.
Ruff, who sits on both General Laws and Finance, voted in General Laws to support Morrissey's bill, then voted in Finance two days later to kill it.
The most high-profile vote to kill Morrissey's bill in Senate Finance came from Sen. Jennifer McClellan, a Richmond Democrat who said she wants to see both Petersburg and Richmond have a chance to host casinos. A Joint Legislative Audit Review Commission reported last November that Petersburg meets the criteria for a casino host, but casinos in both Petersburg and Richmond would mean more economic revenue to the region than just one.
Richmond, which defeated its 2021 referendum to build a $600 million casino and hotel in that city's southside, wants a second chance at the vote and has hung its hat on the JLARC study.
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Petersburg opposes two casinos, saying that its chosen vendor, The Cordish Companies of Maryland, would withdraw its proposal to build a $1.4 billion casino-centered development off Wagner Road in south Petersburg. Taylor has also said she opposes a Richmond entry, claiming that Virginia's capital city already spoke its mind on the issue, and now it was Petersburg's turn.
Monday afternoon, she did not appear to be softening that stance, even though she did not specifically mention the Richmond referendum as she has in the past.
"This bill is not just about economic investment into Petersburg," Taylor said. "It is about restoring democracy and returning control back to the voters of Petersburg."
Her spokesperson said Monday that Taylor was meeting "with all stakeholders" in the Petersburg casino project prior to Wednesday's deliberations but did not divulge if any change in strategy was being discussed.
Should Taylor's bill make it through Senate GLT, it still would have to be OK'ed by Senate Finance before it goes to the full Senate. If it is amended in any way in the Senate and passed, then the House of Delegates would then be asked to accept or reject those amendments. Given the House's political makeup, it's possible that the amendments could be rejected; however, six lawmakers, including four Republicans, refrained from voting on the bill, which got through on a 49-44 plurality.
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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 Twitter at @BAtkinson_PI.
This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Petersburg's casino fate to be decided this week in state Senate
