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Gambling on the Elizabeth
Even
before the start of the legislature in January, Senator L. Louise Lucas, a
Portsmouth Democrat, has introduced a slew of bills which has set the stage for
gambling in Virginia.
Revenue
from gambling, as the Democratic senator from Portsmouth is hoping, will generate
revenue for impoverished Portsmouth and Norfolk and reduce the tolls on the
tunnels and the Martin Luther King Freeway (soon to be an oxymoron).
Lawmakers
are loathe to grant independent authority to localities, especially if it
involves money, so Lucas introduced a bill to allow gambling for localities if 50
percent of their tax base is tax exempt.
The
thought of new revenue has electrified Norfolk officials, who immediately jumped on Lucas' idea.
So
Lucas introduced another bill where the threshold was 40 percent, well within
Norfolk’s range of tax exempt properties.
SB 687: Creation of the Virginia Casino Gaming
Commission
SB 689:
Creation of the Virginia Casino Gaming Commission
SB 726: Definition
of Poker
SB 695: Va. Toll Relief Act and Va. Casino Gaming
Commission
SB 696: Va.
Toll Abatement Act and Va. Casino Gaming Commission
SB 697: Va.
Transportation Enhancement and Toll Abatement Act and Va. Casino Gaming
Commission
SB714:
Va. Toll Mitigation Act & Virginia
Casino Gaming Commission
Not every locality
will meet the threshold. Virginia Beach, for example, wouldn’t qualify.
But how long would it take for Virginia Beach or Chesapeake, affluent localities, to agitate for their share of the gambling pie?
Electoral Evisceration
Sen. Bill Carrico, a Republican from southwest Virginia, in
a reform-minded frame of mind, has proposed a solution to the electoral college
debate, often a repeated and heated discussion a presidential election.
Virginia’s electoral votes shall be allocated by
congressional district, his bill, SB723, proposes.
In other words, voters in Virginia’s
congressional districts will determine the state’s slate of presidential
electors.
How electors are chosen varies by state.
In Virginia, the political parties (or independent
candidates) submit to the State's chief election official a list of individuals
pledged to their candidate for president and equal in number to the State's
electoral vote, according to the Virginia State Board of Elections.
Usually, the major political parties select these
individuals either in their State party conventions or through appointment by
their State party leaders while third parties and independent candidates merely
designate theirs, the Board says.
These ideas aren't created in a vacuum. Which gambling company has been planting these seeds in the minds of local leaders? Who stands to benefit? And are they going to pick up the tab for the addiction recovery programs that will be needed? Will they reimburse the old Norfolk families that gamble away the family heirlooms? The pawn shops will be overflowing and the wealth will travel to a distant land - Vegas, maybe even Dubai.
ReplyDeleteMore importantly, will the influx of revenue provide cover for local leaders? Will it allow them to continue overspending and to continue mis-spending? Will it stand in the way of reform?