Join a Local Coalition Against Casinos!
For the cities of Bristol, Danville, Portsmouth, and Norfolk, your election ballot this year includes a referendum to bring casino gambling to your area. The referendum - which we urge you to OPPOSE - reads as follows:
“Shall casino gaming be permitted in [Bristol, Danville, Portsmouth, or Norfolk], VA as may be approved by the VA Lottery Board?”
Earlier this year, some members of the General Assembly sadly succumbed to the pressure of the gambling industry to approve casino gambling under the cheap promises that it will create more jobs and supposedly “save” some local economies. HB 4 (R–Knight) and SB 36 (D-Lucas) will allow wealthy out-of-state corporations to throw up casinos in select economically distressed cities (including Bristol, Danville, Portsmouth, Richmond, and Norfolk), BUT only if they are first approved through a local referendum. That’s right, the people of each locality will get to decide now! (Note that Richmond is the only qualified locality without a referendum.)
Some legislators chose to blindly believe the false presumptions that casinos will somehow revitalize struggling local economies by creating more jobs and increasing tax revenues. But the overshadowing reality is that a few wealthy investors will profit from the very people in these distressed localities they claim to be helping.
These gambling investors continue to push for casinos in these localities even in spite of the unprecedented financial stresses on families and small businesses caused by the coronavirus. In fact, just consider a few of the similarities between the impact of the “coronavirus pandemic” and the “gambling pandemic.”
Bankruptcies: Gambling leads to increased bankruptcies. The Coronavirus has caused stores and restaurants to close and file for bankruptcy.
Job Loss: Gambling causes increased joblessness for problem gamblers. The Coronavirus resulted in 1,104,097 unemployment claims in VA from mid-March through August 15.
Broken Families: Gambling on average leads to 65% of marriages with one problem gambler ending in divorce. The Coronavirus has led to a spike in divorce filings.
Addiction: Gambling leads to more alcohol and drug addiction, and of course gambling addictions. The Coronavirus has caused an uptick in substance abuse relapse.
Hurts Low-Income and Minority Communities Worse: Casinos disproportionally target minorities and lower income households. The majority of Coronavirus cases and fatalities have been in minority and lower income communities.
Despite all of these well-known similarities between these two crises, wealthy financiers still want to bring casinos to Bristol, Danville, Norfolk and Portsmouth, which will most assuredly bring about more financial and societal devastation. Don’t let them bring this to where you live!
If you live within any of these jurisdictions or in the surrounding areas that will be negatively impacted as well, we encourage you to check out these websites and Facebook pages to learn about any upcoming events and ways you can get involved in their efforts to stop casinos from coming to Virginia.
Websites
Danville – DefendDanville
Norfolk - VotenocasinoNorfolk
Facebook Groups
Danville - DefendDanville
Bristol – No Casinos in Bristol
Norfolk - VotenocasinoNorfolk
Portsmouth – casiNO- Portsmouth
