Virginia lawmakers are maneuvering to further stifle efforts to build a casino in Richmond.
State lawmakers have included an amendment in a two-year budget agreement up for a vote Wednesday that bars the city from holding a second referendum on whether to allow a casino in Richmond until 2023. Voters in Virginia’s capital city last year narrowly voted down a casino measure — a shocking result for city leaders and Urban One Inc. (NASDAQ: UONE), the Black-owned Silver Spring media company that was leading the proposal to build a $600 million gaming venue.
But in March, a Richmond judge granted a request from Mayor Levar Stoney and other city leaders to hold a second referendum. In response to that, state lawmakers are reportedly angling in the new budget to bar the state lottery from issuing a casino license to Richmond until a legislative study is completed of a potential rival site in Petersburg, Virginia — a city about 25 miles south of Richmond that has experienced significant financial strain in recent years.
Click here to read the rest of the story written by Drew Hansen over at Washington Business Journal
