Spanberger vetoes Virginia skill-game, Fairfax casino bills

Gov. Abigail Spanberger vetoed two bills on Thursday and Friday that would have legalized slot-like skill machines statewide and authorized a casino in Fairfax County. She wrote the state needs a single regulator for all forms of gambling before expanding the industry.

Senate Bill 661 would have allowed the Virginia Lottery Board to authorize up to 25,000 electronic skill machines and imposed a 25% tax on gross profits. The bill allocated 75% of tax revenue to the state general fund, 15% to the local jurisdiction hosting a machine, and the remainder to problem-gambling treatment, enforcement and lottery administrative costs. A fiscal estimate from the Department of Planning and Budget projected about $346.8 million in annual tax revenue if 25,000 machines each produced an average $152 per day. The fiscal note also said the lottery does not know how many machines are currently in operation; some estimates put the number near 90,000.

Spanberger cited data from a temporary allowance of roughly 9,000 machines during the COVID-19 pandemic, reporting devices were concentrated in communities with higher poverty rates, lower educational attainment and larger Black and Hispanic populations. “The absence of a centralized regulatory authority for gaming creates gaps in oversight that threaten the Commonwealth of Virginia’s ability to provide consistent enforcement, prevent illicit activity, and protect all consumers,” she wrote. She added that adding more machines would “strain an already fragmented system.”

Virginia’s history with skill games includes a brief pandemic-era allowance, a 2021 ban, a lower-court injunction that paused enforcement, and a 2023 Virginia Supreme Court decision that reinstated the ban. A similar legalization bill was vetoed by former governor Glenn Youngkin in 2024.

Senate Bill 756 would have authorized a casino resort in Tysons Corner and removed the option for a local referendum. Spanberger vetoed that bill on Thursday, noting Fairfax County officials opposed the plan and that the measure would block local input. “In no other circumstance has the General Assembly prescribed specifications for a casino’s location. This effectively precludes local input and eliminates local decisions,” she wrote. Fairfax County is the state’s most populous locality, with more than 1.1 million residents.

Both vetoes return to the General Assembly when lawmakers reconvene on April 22. Overriding a veto requires a two-thirds vote of members present in each chamber. Conference committee versions of both bills had cleared the legislature: SB 661 passed the House 57-38 and the Senate 23-15 after conference, and SB 756 passed the House 55-41 and the Senate 25-13.

Virginia currently allows a state lottery, sports betting, commercial casinos in Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, Petersburg and Portsmouth, horse racing and historical horse racing. Spanberger’s vetoes keep existing law in place while she calls on lawmakers to create a centralized regulator to evaluate social, economic and enforcement impacts before further gaming expansion.