Virginia House of Delegates approves igaming bill
The two houses must now reach an agreement on a final proposal.
US.- The Virginia House of Delegates has approved igaming proposal House Bill 161 in a second vote on the “crossover” deadline for bills to clear their chamber of origin. The approval comes a day after the Virginia Senate passed SB 118.
The two houses must now agree on a final version of the proposed legislation as the two bills differ on the allocation of tax revenue. Both bills propose the legalisation and regulation of online gaming under the supervision of the Virginia Lottery Board. Existing Virginia casino operators would pay $2m for a licence while online-only operators would pay an initial licensing fee of $500,000.
Both bills propose a 20 per cent tax on adjusted gross igaming revenue, and an additional 6 per cent economic development fee. However, the House bill proposes assigning 89 per cent of tax revenue to the general fund until 2036, and 5 per cent for problem gambling programmes. The Senate proposes 95 per cent for education, 3 per cent for igaming regulation, and 2 per cent for problem gambling initiatives. SB 118 received an amendment to put the proposed launch date back to July 1 2027.
