Virginia iGaming Bill Gets Effectively Pushed To 2027

The Virginia Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee voted Monday to continue HB 271, further dimming the prospects of the Old Dominion legalizing online casino gaming for 2026.

The 11-3 vote with one abstention essentially moved the bill, which would have created a new Virginia Gaming Commission to oversee all gaming in the state, to the 2027 legislative session. That came after the Resources Subcommittee voted 4-0 earlier Monday to continue the bill.

"The gaming landscape had changed a lot and it continues to do so," said Del. Paul Krizek during the subcommittee hearing, referring to the rise of prediction markets and sweepstakes gaming. "And the lottery's done a great job of managing the programs entrusted to it. But it was really created to operate games, not to serve as the long-term comprehensive gaming regulator.

"This gaming commission came out of a two-year study," he continued. "And I think it's time we bite the bullet and put it all into one. We've got too many agencies regulating gaming as it is right now."

Deeds echoes the sentiment

State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds agreed with Krizek. "Our concern was just creating a separate bureaucracy than the one we already have, the lottery," he said. "We would like to try to figure out how to do all of it in one bureaucracy."

The Senate version of the bill, SB 609, remains in conference. Krizek, Deeds, and Finance and Appropriations Chair Sen. L. Louise Lucas are all on the conference committee to address that legislation.

The tracking to 2027 falls in line with the progress of the other key iGaming bill, HB 161. This piece of legislation is also in conference with a different committee, as that group of six will try to hammer out the differences with companion bill SB 118.

House delegates added matching terminology to Sen. Mamie Locke's bill that would require the 2027 legislature to also approve the bill as part of any effort to legalize online casino gaming, and both bodies have settled on a 20% tax rate on adjusted gross revenue.

Among other key issues to be resolved between Locke's bill and the one sponsored by Del. Marcus Simon include the latter's allocating 6% of tax revenue to a hold-harmless fund until 2037 to address cannibalization concerns. The two bills also have different percentages of revenue allocation for responsible gambling programs, with Simon proposing 5% and Locke 2%.