Virginia Lawmakers to Push Sports Betting Legislation in January 2019
Published November 26, 2018 by Elana K
Virginia State Sen. Chap Petersen said that he plans to introduce legislation to legalize sports betting, with the goal of using the tax revenue to reduce tuition costs at community colleges; VA Del. Mark Sickles has already introduced his own bill.
Certain Virginia lawmakers have decided that it’s time to get Virginia on the sports betting bandwagon. Last week State Senator Chap Petersen said that he plans to introduce legislation to legalize sports betting, with the goal of using the tax revenue to reduce tuition costs at community colleges. But Delegate Mark Sickles beat him to it, proposing his own sports betting legislation that includes a 15% tax on revenue; his goal is to help fund research at state universities.
It’s not really a competition - the more bills that are proposed, the better the chances of Virginia’s legislative body getting a clearer understanding of the issue and passing legislation.
Peterson said in a statement, “Sports gaming is going to be legal across the United States. There is no reason to keep it illegal, when our neighboring states are already moving to legalize. We should keep that business in Virginia, along with the tax revenue.”
The Virginia General Assembly is slated to meet in January, and its expected that more than a dozen lobbyists will show up to promote some sort of gambling expansion.
Other States Gearing Up For January 2019
Earlier this month Senator Julian Carroll of Kentucky submitted an updated version of his sports betting bill, while Tennessee Representative Rick Staples submitted sports betting legislation in preparation for the upcoming January 2019 legislative session. The Kentucky bill includes a 25% tax on net sports betting revenue while the Tennessee bill includes a 10% tax. Of course, taxes and other details may need to be adjusted once lawmakers sit down to discuss the bills.
