RICHMOND – For two years, Petersburg’s casino dreams crapped out in the Virginia Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee.
In a reversal of fortune on Tuesday, those dreams moved one step closer to the pay window as that same committee sent Senate Bill 628 to the Senate floor on a 15-0 vote. Couple that with other chamber-bound legislation that removes Richmond from the casino picture, and that path to the pay window is practically obstruction-free.
By getting through the committee with no dissention, the measure is all but guaranteed passage through the chamber. It will be placed into an uncontested bloc on the Senate floor containing all bills that have unanimous committee consent., and the bloc is voted on as one group.
Unlike the previous two sessions where acrimony filled the air during debate, there was little, if any, discussion at all Tuesday. The only excitement the issue generated came later when the committee shot down similar legislation that would have also added Fairfax County to the list of host cities.