monday, february 24 , 2020. the washington post eZ sU A
The study requested from the
Joint Legislative Audit and re-
view Commission projected that
five casinos could generate
$260 million yearly in state taxes
“and have a positive, but modest
impact on local economies.” The
state lottery and charitable gam-
ing would lose some revenue,
while horse racing would take a
huge hit.
If the state really wanted to
rake in cash, the commission
said, it would put a casino in
Northern Virginia and capture
business flowing across the Poto-
mac to the mGm Grand casino at
maryland’s National Harbor.
The report urged a competi-
tive bidding process for award-
ing gaming licenses to maximize
value and “minimize risks to the
state, localities, and the public.”
But that’s not what’s happen-
ing.
The bills advancing this year
would l et t he five cities pick their
development partners and then
hold a local referendum on
whether to allow the project.
only Danville is planning an
open competition. Portsmouth,
Norfolk and Bristol all have part-
ners in place. richmond, under
the proposed legislation, would
choose between two favorites.
No other localities are eligible.
That aggravated a nasty spat
in Bristol, where another devel-
oper has proposed a casino out-
side city limits. Steve Johnson,
who built a successful retail
center just across the line in
Te nnessee, is working with the
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indi-
ans on a possible casino in
Virginia’s Washington County —
but n either t he House bill nor thecess Project. That’s up from
$56,000 four years before.
most of the increase came
from companies or executives
affiliated with Jim mcGlothlin
and Clyde Stacy, coal barons
backing the Bristol casino effort,
according to VPAP data.
m cGlothlin is no stranger to
richmond — he and his wife,
frances, are major b enefactors of
the Virginia museum of fine
Arts. He was briefly caught up in
the money-for-access scandal in-
volving then-Gov. robert mc-
Donnell (r) after questions were
raised about a $36,000 payment
from mcGlothlin’s company to
mcDonnell’s wife.
Gambling-related companies
also rushed to sign up lobbyists,
boosting their total to 53 this
year from 23 the year before,
according to a VPAP analysis.Virginia’s sudden push. So the
tribe laid claim to possible sites
in Norfolk and richmond.
That made five localities —
Bristol, Portsmouth, Norfolk,
richmond and Danville — jock-
eying for position.
And the state Capitol was
distracted. Gov. ralph Northam
(D) was under fire for a racist
photo from his 1984 medical
school yearbook depicting some-
one in blackface and another
person in Klan robes. Attorney
General mark Herring (D) had
admitted h is own youthful black-
face incident. And Lt. Gov. Justin
fairfax (D) was denying claims
that he had sexually assaulted
two women in separate incidents
in the early 200 0s.
faced with the complicated
issue of gambling amid a media
circus, the legislature took a
cautious route: It commissioned
a study.Recommendations ignored
The delay raised a checkered
flag for casino interests to start
spending. In the 2018-2019 elec-
tion cycle, when every seat in the
legislature was on the ballot,
casino advocates donated more
than $1.7 million to politicians of
both parties, according to the
nonpartisan Virginia Public Ac-with the mall’s new owners —
wealthy coal barons — about
opening a casino.
Though Bristol abounds with
conservative churches, local resi-
dents were willing to support the
plan if it meant jobs.
Last year, the area’s republi-
can lawmakers connected with
Lucas. Their timing was perfect.
The General Assembly had
opened what amounted to a back
door for casino gaming.an alliance for slots
Eager to revive the horse rac-
ing industry, lawmakers had ap-
proved a deal to secure a new
owner for the shuttered Colonial
Downs track in New Kent Coun-
ty. The buyer argued that the
venture would b e economically
viable o nly if it i ncluded o ff-track
betting f acilities around the state
stocked with “historical horse
racing” machines.
Those devices are not techni-
cally games of chance. They’re
based on the outcomes of actual
races from years past, anony-
mized so the player can wager
using blind statistics. That com-
forted a broad coalition of re-
publicans and Democrats who
supported the plan as a way to
boost agriculture and bring jobs
to low-income areas.
In truth, though, most players
skip the stats on those machines
and just let colorful symbols spin
— exactly like a slot machine.
The result is a network of rosie’s
Gaming Emporiums — in New
Kent, richmond, Hampton and
near roanoke — that look, sound
and operate like slots-only casi-
nos.
That was close enough for
Lucas. She trumpeted her alli-
ance with the Southwest law-
makers as a broad new political
base for actual casinos. And
others wanted in.
The southern city of Danville,
desperate for economic develop-
ment since textile and furniture
industries fled, also asked to roll
the casino dice. The Pamunkey
Indians, who were planning to
seek a casino under federal law,
worried they would be left out inSenate bill would allow that
project.
Johnson has accused Bristol
officials of stealing his idea, and
complains that the legislation
ignores sound principles advo-
cated by the commission report.
“We are not asking the Gener-
al Assembly to pick our project,”
Johnson said via text message.
“The General Assembly
shouldn’t be in the business of
picking projects, we just want
there to be a competitive process
that gives everyone a fair shot.”Mutual appreciation
others have rushed to get into
the game before it’s too late.
Alfred Liggins of maryland’s Ur-
ban one radio, which has a stake
in the mGm Grand, traveled to
richmond to protest t hat none of
the proposed casino projects fea-
ture African American owner-
ship, even though many would
be in predominantly black neigh-
borhoods.
Lawmakers added language to
the bills calling for any rich-
mond casino to give extra weight
to a project w ith minority owner-
ship. But the bills also tell the
city to give priority to the casino
proposed by the Pamunkey tribe
and to any proposal from Colo-
nial Downs, which has protested
that its off-track betting parlors
could soon be outmoded by casi-
nos.
The racetrack g ot language
inserted in the House bill allow-
ing it to bring up to 2,500 more
historical horse racing machines
to the state, including 1,800 at a
proposed parlor in Dumfries, in
Prince William County. The Sen-
ate has prohibited such an ex-
pansion, though, setting up a
behind-the-scenes fight.
The bills are also wildly differ-
ent on taxation, with the Senate
opting for rates of up to 40 per-
cent depending on the size of the
casino. Supporters o f the Pamun-
key proposal say such a high rate
would squeeze out the tribe and
favor only the biggest interna-
tional gaming interests.
Sorting all that out could take
the rest of the legislative session,
which ends march 7. Some law-
makers are still opposed to the
entire effort, from conservatives
who frown on gambling to liber-
als who worry about preying on
low-income consumers. mem-
bers of both parties question the
lack of competition.
Northam is “carefully review-
ing” the proposed legislation, a
spokeswoman said, and “does
not have a position on any bill at
this point.”
But L ucas i s confident t hat her
long crusade is about to pay off.
“It’s taken 20 years, 30 pounds
and gray hair to get here,” she
said. “What I want to do right
now is not do anything to put
this bill in jeopardy.”
As she hustled through the
Capitol one recent afternoon,
Lucas spotted Eads, the Bristol
city manager, in town to press his
case. She swerved over to give
her unlikely partner a big hug.
“Thank you so much,” Lucas
said.
“It wouldn’t have happened
without you,” Eads responded.
[email protected]the cities involved.
The web of compromises, if it
lasts, was born out of economic
desperation. It emerged as a
byproduct of the state’s effort to
revive horse racing, and took
root amid the distractions of
unrelated scandals that engulfed
the executive branch last year.
Now deep-pocketed gambling
outfits are descending on rich-
mond to help push the legisla-
tion through.
“This is one of the biggest
undertakings that we will con-
sider this year,” Del. Jeffrey m.
Bourne (D-richmond) said re-
cently — no small claim as the
General Assembly chases history
in areas from gun control to
passage of the Equal rights
Amendment.
Virginia is one of only 10 states
that have no casinos. Even as its
electorate has become more di-
verse and socially liberal, law-
makers have c lung to a suspicion
of gaming that transcends parti-
sanship. They cracked the door
for a state lottery, with proceeds
going to schools, and for horse
racing, which has a history in
Virginia dating t o Colonial t imes.
State Sen. L. Louise Lucas
(D-Portsmouth) has been fight-
ing the suspicion for 25 years,
convinced that a casino would
inject new life into her strug-
gling city.
“This bill passing would be
like our Amazon,” Lucas recently
told a Senate committee, refer-
ring to the massive headquarters
operation the online retailer is
bringing to Northern Virginia.
L ast year, she finally connect-
ed with people as desperate as
she was. To gether they had the
political clout to move the issue
forward, plus one more attribute
that didn’t hurt: a partner with
deep pockets for campaign con-
tributions.
‘The exact same needs’
The cities of Portsmouth and
Bristol are nearly 400 miles
apart and seem to share little
beyond a Virginia address. Ports-
mouth is a majority-black, urban
seaport; Bristol is white and in
the rural foothills of the Appala-
chians. one gave the world ruth
Brown and missy Elliott, the
other the Carter family and the
birth of country music.
“But the similarities... are
remarkable,” s aid state Sen. Todd
E. Pillion (r-Washington), whose
district includes Bristol. “We
have depressed economies. our
schools are antiquated.... We
have the exact same needs.”
Bristol suffered as the coal
industry collapsed in Southwest
Virginia. Stumbling from o ne
failed economic development
gambit to another, the isolated
city — five hours from richmond
— is mired in debt.
Portsmouth is dominated by
Norfolk across the Elizabeth riv-
er on one side and the sprawling
suburban city of Chesapeake on
the other. much of its prime
waterfront real estate is govern-
ment property — a Navy complex
and Virginia port facilities,
which don’t contribute to the
local tax base.
Lucas h as long preached that a
casino would bring jobs and
visitors to break the economic
straitjacket. Two years ago, lead-
ers in Bristol reached the same
conclusion.
randall Eads, a lawyer with no
background in municipal admin-
istration, took over as Bristol city
manager with promises to turn
the city’s vacant shopping mall
into a facility for growing medi-
cal marijuana. And he talked
casinos from a
Va. casino compromises born out of unlikely alliances
bob brown/richmond times-dispatch/associated presssteve helber/associated press
ToP: Robert Gray, chief of the Pamunkey tribe, speaks to a Virginia
senate subcommittee about casino gambling bills during a meeting
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