Abigail Spanberger has stepped right into a rising struggle over playing coverage in Virginia, rejecting a invoice that might have pushed Fairfax County toward a public vote on a proposed casino.
The laws, Senate Bill 756, targeted on Tysons Nook and would have required the county’s Board of Supervisors to schedule a referendum, though native leaders had already made clear they weren’t on board. By vetoing it, Spanberger sided with native officers and warned in opposition to letting the state override these choices.
“Native governing boards ought to lead on proposed on line casino growth, as has occurred in each locality that now has a on line casino,” mentioned Spanberger in a press release. “However in Fairfax County, the Board of Supervisors has explicitly opposed this laws, and an awesome majority of the Normal Meeting members who characterize Fairfax voted in opposition to it.”
Her transfer stops an effort by some state lawmakers to advance the challenge regardless of resistance on the county stage. We beforehand reported how the proposal grew to become a flashpoint in Richmond, with supporters arguing a referendum would let voters determine, whereas opponents mentioned it ignored the usual course of used elsewhere in Virginia.
Below present legislation, native governments sometimes take the lead by asking a court docket to authorize a referendum after the state designates them as eligible on line casino websites. This has been utilized in a number of cities since lawmakers opened the door to on line casino growth in 2020.
Spanberger argues Fairfax on line casino problem facilities on native management
Spanberger argued the invoice would have damaged from that sample by forcing a vote the place native leaders don’t want one. She additionally objected to language that might have allowed state lawmakers to dictate the precise location of a on line casino inside the county.
“In no different circumstance has the Normal Meeting prescribed specs for a on line casino’s location,” mentioned Spanberger. “This successfully precludes native enter and eliminates native choices. Whereas this laws particularly impacts solely Fairfax County, it will set a precedent to convey on line casino referendums to different localities the place the native governing board might equally oppose such an effort.”
A number of cities have already authorised casinos via referendums, whereas others have rejected them. On the identical time, new tasks are shifting ahead, together with a recently launched effort in Petersburg the place builders have damaged floor on a significant on line casino resort anticipated to convey jobs and tax income.
Spanberger used the second to resume her name for a extra unified regulatory system, saying the state nonetheless lacks a single unbiased authority to supervise the increasing business. For now, the Fairfax proposal stays in limbo.
Featured picture: Ezra Deutsch-Feldman through WikiCommons / CC BY-SA 4.0
The publish Spanberger veto blocks Fairfax casino vote amid clash over local control appeared first on ReadWrite.
