{"id":1109,"date":"2024-04-15T18:45:11","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T18:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/?p=1109"},"modified":"2024-04-25T13:36:06","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T13:36:06","slug":"virginia-skill-gaming-proponents-small-businesses-bash-governors-amendments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/2024\/04\/15\/virginia-skill-gaming-proponents-small-businesses-bash-governors-amendments\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Skill Gaming Proponents, Small Businesses Bash Governor\u2019s Amendments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Skill gaming proponents in Virginia say Gov. Glenn Youngkin\u2019s (R) amendments to legislation passed by the General Assembly that seeks to allow certain businesses to house the machines goes too far.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Virginia
Susan Matthews, owner of Sportsman Restaurant & Lounge in Henrico, fears permanently losing skill games. Gov. Glenn Youngkin is seeking to restrict where the controversial slot-like machines can operate. (Image: 6 News Richmond<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Youngkin returned the skill gaming measure<\/a> last week after he rewrote significant portions of the statute.<\/span><\/p>\n

Notably, the governor suggests that skill games like the popular Queen of Virginia <\/i>title be prohibited within 35 miles of any commercial casino or pari-mutuel wagering facility. More consequently, Youngkin also wants to mandate that skill games stay at least 2,500 feet, or roughly a half-mile, from any school, daycare, or place of worship.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

State Sen. Bill Stanley (R-Franklin), a staunch supporter of skill games who represented Sadler Brothers Oil<\/a> in its lawsuit challenging the state\u2019s decision to ban skill games effective June 2021, says Youngkin\u2019s changes effectively outlaw skill games almost everywhere.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Stanley\u2019s staff compiled a map displaying where skill games wouldn\u2019t be allowed should the legislature sign off on the governor\u2019s changes. The map shows that nearly all of the commonwealth would be excluded, with only rural, remote areas possibly housing the games.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Virginia
The circles represent buffers around casinos and historical horse racing parlors. The red squares represent skill gaming excluded areas due to schools, churches, or daycares. (Image: Virginia Sen. Bill Stanley)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Governor\u2019s Defense<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Stanley questioned why Youngkin signed legislation last year that removed the church, school, and daycare half-mile radius prohibition for methadone clinics but isn\u2019t willing to do the same for skill games.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Small business owners are now more dangerous by law than a methadone clinic according to the governor\u2019s amendments to the skill bill. Why?\u201d Stanley posed on X. \u201cHeroin addicts are treated with better respect than small business owners.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Youngkin said in his skill gaming rewrite that the 2,500-foot exclusion stemmed from the state\u2019s 2020 casino law that requires casinos to stay about a half-mile from religious centers, schools, and daycare facilities. The governor added that his changes provide \u201ca more protective set of arrangements for public safety and consumer protection.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Skill games look and sound like regular slot machines but differ in that they require a player to identify a winning payline. A slot machine found inside a casino does that automatically.<\/span><\/p>\n

Skill gaming proponents say the skill element means they aren\u2019t gambling devices, as someone\u2019s proficiency can alter the outcome. Small businesses say the machines have helped offset higher goods and labor costs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Youngkin explained the 2,500-foot buffer zone is consistent with the state\u2019s other forms of gaming<\/a> expansion, including the state\u2019s 2018 law that legalized historical horse racing machines and the state\u2019s 2020 casino law that allocated casino licenses to certain cities.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

For the few areas where skill games would be allowed, the machines\u2019 financial benefit for businesses housing the terminals would be reduced under the governor\u2019s recommendations. Youngkin\u2019s vast changes include raising the state\u2019s tax on gross proceeds from 25% to 35%.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only businesses licensed by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (ABC) would qualify for skill games. Most ABC licensees would be allowed up to four games, while truck stops with alcohol could house as many as 10 terminals.<\/p>\n

Small Business React<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Since 2020, skill games have proliferated in the commonwealth, and thousands of machines remained in operation until last fall when the Virginia Supreme Court overturned a circuit court\u2019s injunction<\/a> in the Sadler Brothers case. The machines remain powered off in countless businesses like restaurants, bars, convenience stores, and gas stations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many small business owners say the machines are critical to maintaining their workforces.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A casino with its shiny bright lights is more important than a gas station that has served our community,\u201d small business owner Munir Rassiwala told 8News<\/i>. \u201cWe are forgotten. We are not important.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Rassiwala\u2019s gas station is among more than 500 convenience stores that have united to protest Youngkin\u2019s skill gaming changes. Their voices are being led by the Virginia Merchants and Amusement Coalition<\/a>, which is lobbying lawmakers in Richmond to reject Youngkin\u2019s amendments. Some of the corner stores have even temporarily suspended selling lottery tickets in protest of the governor\u2019s skill gaming actions.<\/span><\/p>\n

The post Virginia Skill Gaming Proponents, Small Businesses Bash Governor\u2019s Amendments<\/a> appeared first on Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Skill gaming proponents in Virginia say Gov. Glenn Youngkin\u2019s (R) amendments to legislation passed by the General Assembly that seeks to allow certain businesses to house the machines goes too far. Susan Matthews, owner of Sportsman Restaurant & Lounge in Henrico, fears permanently losing skill games. Gov. Glenn Youngkin is seeking to restrict where the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1109"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1114,"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1109\/revisions\/1114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/restaurace-pohoda.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}