General Laws Subcommittee #5 advanced HB 1272, a bill to authorize and regulate electronic gaming devices (skill games) under the Virginia Lottery Board, voting 6 to 1 to report the bill with a subcommittee substitute and refer it to the House Appropriations Committee — over substantial opposition from casino workers, charitable organizations, anti-gambling groups, and established gaming industry interests.
Michael Hashi of UNITE HERE argued legalization will cost good union casino jobs, citing Illinois where traditional casinos produce 27% fewer jobs each following legalization of skill games at over 8,000 locations. C.E. Cliff Hayes, Jr. countered that with 70,000 machines already operating today, if there was a threat to jobs, those jobs would already be threatened.
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“Our police departments are asking for give us something to regulate by our commonwealth's attorneys, give us something to go after these 70,000 machines all over the Commonwealth right now where these folks are operating. And guess how much the Commonwealth gets in revenue. A goose egg. The Commonwealth is getting nothing.”
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Sign in to subscribeThe meeting of the subcommittee number five of the House General Laws Committee will now come to order. Members will indicate their presence by pressing green on the electronic voting system. Thank you, members, a quorum is present. Welcome to subcommittee number five. Thank you all for being here. I really appreciate y'. All. We have a full room today, so just a few brief reminders. As chairwoman, it is my responsibility to maintain order and decorum. So please make sure that you, you all maintain that so that this subcommittee can continue its work and conduct it efficiently and effectively. I expect all discourse and testimony before the subcommittee to remain respectful and civil at all times. Please make sure that I do not have to repeat that. And then also for those with signs in the audience, please note that, that it is against the rules to hold them up, so you can just please keep them down and then make sure that you direct all of your comments through the chair. So. So now that we have that out of the way, we have one bill on the docket. And after the patron has presented their bill,…
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