Virginia: Lobbyist spending suggests action on skill games and casinos next month

Thursday, December 12, 2024 3:47 PM
Photo:  By Martin Kraft - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
  • Michael Pope, Radio IQ

Members of the General Assembly are getting ready for the upcoming session. And so are lobbyists who represent gambling interests.

Special interests in the gambling industry are hoping to strike it rich during the General Assembly session next year. That’s according to the latest lobbying disclosures posted by the Virginia Public Access Project. Pace-o-Matic spent almost half-a-million dollars. Caesars spent more than $400K. Churchill Downs spent almost $300,000. And MGM spent more than $200,000.

David Ramadan at George Mason University’s Schar School says those numbers are likely to translate to action.

“There are a lot of signs that tells me that there will probably be some movement on both casinos and skill games in the upcoming session,” he says.