Third time the charm: State Senate approves Petersburg casino referendum

RICHMOND – After two years of snake-eyes in the state Senate, Petersburg finally hit the jackpot for getting its long-desired casino.

On Friday, that chamber, which had been a graveyard for the city's hopes of ever getting a casino in town, approved Petersburg as the potentially fifth − and last, at least for now − Virginia city to host a state-sanctioned gambling club. The vote was 29-10, with 10 Republicans joining their Democratic colleagues in support.

Now, Petersburg's proponents are hoping to parlay their Senate winnings into similar victory in the House of Delegates.

Friday was the first time the issue made it as far as the Senate floor. In previous years, it was killed in the Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee. This time around, a major Petersburg casino opponent switched sides and actually was a chief co-sponsor of Senate Bill 628.

Democratic Sen. Louise Lucas, whose home district of Portsmouth is one of the five Virginia cities to go into the gambling business, joined Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, as a main patron. The bill also picked up bipartisan sponsorship from Republican Bryce Reeves of Orange County and Democrat Barbara Favola of Arlington.

There was a lot of aisle-jumping on the vote, but more so on the Republican side with 10 GOP senators joining 19 Democrats in favor. Only two Democrats – Ghazala Hashmi of Chesterfield County and Danica Roem of Prince William County – did not support it.

The legislation resets the parameters, such as poverty and unemployment rates, for economically challenged cities to conduct a referendum about bringing a casino to their towns. Those new guardrails favored Petersburg and eliminated the city of Richmond – an original casino host whose voters twice rejected a casino referendum there.

It also blocks for the next three years the opportunity for Richmond voters to have another chance at a referendum. Language from a Reeves-sponsored bill was rolled in stating that any locality who rejects a casino referendum must wait three years before it could vote again.

A spokesperson for the city of Petersburg lauded Aird for getting the measure further than it had ever gone before in the Senate.

“The city greatly appreciates Senator Aird’s hard work in moving Senate Bill 628 through the Senate,” spokesperson Joanne Williams said in a text to The Progress-Index. “We know she will continue her dedication to giving citizens the opportunity to vote on this major economic development opportunity of Petersburg.”

Passage is all but guaranteed in the House of Delegates, which will take up the measure after Crossover Day when each chamber must finish work on its own legislation before acting on bills from the opposite sides of the state Capitol. Last year, the House gave shaky approval to the measure from Del. Kim Taylor, R-Dinwiddie County. Senate Finance later killed that bill.

Taylor opted not to introduce companion legislation in the House this session.

Casinos were approved by voters in Bristol, Danville, Norfolk and Portsmouth. Gaming parlors have been built in three of those cities and appear to be enjoying major revenue boosts.

Should the measure make it all the way through the legislature and then signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a casino referendum could be held as early as this November. Earlier in the week, Petersburg City Council approved the start of the process to find a casino vendor. The city plans to hire the Robert Bobb Group with assistance for that.

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.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Va. Senate signs off on Petersburg casino referendum