2020 Session Recap Part 3 - New VA Vices - Big Gambling & Marijuana
This year the new leadership in the General Assembly led the way in approving massive expansions of gambling and the decriminalization of marijuana, both of which will exacerbate destructive addictions and attract more criminal behavior to our communities. With passage of these bills, Virginia is well on its way to becoming the East Coast’s California or the next Atlantic City! In this legislative summary, we highlight what the giant gambling industry was able to accomplish, as well as its “sister” industry of vice – recreational marijuana.
Virginia is going to look unrecognizable in the coming years thanks to some members of the General Assembly who finally succumbed to the pressure of the gambling industry to approve casino gambling under the promises that it will create more state tax revenues and supposedly save some local economies.
HB 4 (R–Knight) and SB 36 (D-Lucas) will allow wealthy corporations to set up casinos in a limited number of economically distressed localities (including Bristol, Danville, Portsmouth, Richmond, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach) if approved through a local referendum.
Many legislators have been led to believe that these casinos – designed to lure people through their doors with grand hopes of winning the jackpot – will somehow revitalize struggling local economies and fill coffers with a new source of tax revenue. But the reality is these bills will promote a form of crony capitalism that allows a few wealthy investors to profit from the very people in these distressed localities they claim to be helping.
In addition to giving the green light to casinos, the General Assembly also approved legislation, HB 896 (D-Sickles) and SB 384 (D-McPike), that brings sports betting to the Commonwealth. These bills will allow people to bet on professional sports outcomes at either a central location or using an online platform. The case made by the gaming industry and some legislators to legalize sports betting mostly rested on the “fear of missing out” on revenue to other states, but don’t be surprised if it was also intended to make Virginia the home of the Washington Redskins’ new stadium.
As if that wasn’t enough, the General Assembly passed legislation, HB 1383 (D-Bulova) and SB 922 (R-Norment), to repeal a prohibition against selling lottery tickets online. Now, instead of going to a local convenience store or gas station to purchase lottery tickets in person, people will be able to purchase tickets anywhere, at any time, with few safeguards in place to prevent problem gambling. Ironically, the rationale to repealing the ban of online sales was to restore funds to The Virginia Lottery that are being lost to other forms of gambling, like historical horse racing slot machines.
But the legislature did appear to have a limit to the amount of gaming it would allow in Virginia, as it passed legislation, SB 971 (D-Howell) and HB 881 (D-Bulova), to ban so-called “games of skill” from restaurants, convenience stores, or bars. Opponents of these bills argued that it would be better to regulate and tax these machines than to completely ban them. At the end of the day, the strong casino lobby made sure these “games of skill” did not get in the way of their quest for millions here in the Commonwealth.
This year the legislature added Virginia to the list of states that have either decriminalized or fully legalized marijuana. HB 972 (D-Herring) and SB 2 (D-Ebbin), which decriminalizes simple marijuana possession, reduces the civil penalty to no more than $25. Under current law the maximum fine of $500 and a maximum 30-days in jail sentence for a first offense, and subsequent offenses are a Class 1 misdemeanor. While the bill doesn’t prohibit law enforcement from searching a vehicle if the odor of marijuana is detected, reducing penalties and fines certainly makes it more difficult to stop its unlawful abuses.
Make no mistake, decriminalization of marijuana effectively propels Virginia towards full legalization, but those efforts were halted this year with the defeat HB 269 and HB 87 that would have legalized marijuana for recreational use. Instead, the legislature passed studies to examine the impact it will have on certain demographics and socioeconomic conditions, as well as the impact that full legalization would ultimately have on the Commonwealth. These studies tend to carry little weight, as was the case with the JLARC report on Gaming in the Commonwealth, but at least they delay the effort to fully legalize marijuana for a little while.
Since our founding in 1985, The Family Foundation has stood up against the gambling expansion in Virginia, recognizing its many harms to individuals, families, and communities. Please pray for the families, businesses, and communities that are unnecessarily going to feel the consequences of the massive gambling expansion and marijuana decriminalization. All of this only underscores how the positive and stabilizing influence of strong families are more important in Virginia than ever before.
This is Part 3 of a multi-part General Assembly Recap Blog Series.
