Skill games legalization hits dead end in Virginia

The battle for the legalization of skill games in Virginia continues.

After skill games were legal in the state for months between 2020 and 2021, lawmakers enforced a ban on the popular machines. The saga intensified after skill games developers and businesses took the lawmaker’s decision to ban skill games to court. Going back and forth, in the end, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled in favor of the ban in 2023. Now, the legal battle continues with a bill proposing the legalization of skill games receiving a veto. Senate Bill 661 (SB 661) calls for the regulation and legalization of skill games. The proposal would allow up to 25,000 such machines across Virginia, while the oversight would be handled by the Virginia Lottery Board. Despite gaining traction, SB 661 was vetoed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger. In announcing her decision late last week, the Governor pointed to the ongoing expansion of gambling over the last 10 years, reiterating that the state still doesn’t have a centralized, independent body in charge of regulating legal gambling. Gov. Spanberger’s decision to veto SB 661 isn’t unexpected, considering that she has previously voiced her concerns about the lack of a centralized gambling regulator in Virginia.

Upon announcing the veto, the Governor pointed to data from the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority. Per this data, for the time when skill games were permitted to operate between 2020 and 2021, the machines were concentrated in communities with higher percentages of residents living below the poverty line, lower education levels, and higher percentages of minority residents than the Commonwealth as a whole, Gov. Spanberger wrote. Right now, legalizing skill gaming and introducing more of these machines into our communities would strain an already fragmented system, the Governor added. Moreover, she pointed out: "Legalizing these machines at this moment would also reward operators who knowingly disregarded state law for years and set a troubling precedent for how business is conducted in Virginia. The Governor confirmed she will continue to discuss the issue with lawmakers and ensure that the potential expansion of gambling in the state will prioritize the well-being of communities across the state. Besides SB 661, Gov. Spanberger also vetoed Senate Bill 756 (SB 756), which proposed the development of a new casino. SB 756 sought to permit the creation of a new casino located in Fairfax County, the most populous county in Virginia.