THE LEDGER-STAR
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, October 25, 1994 TAG: 9410250492
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: TAZEWELL, VA. LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
State Sen. Jackson Reasor Jr., D-Tazewell, recently received about 500 letters from constituents asking him to support riverboat gambling during the next session of the General Assembly.
But when Reasor responded with letters thanking citizens for sharing their views, he received calls from puzzled people who said they never wrote him in support of gambling and had not given permission for any business or group to use their names. The legislator said Monday he has spoken with several constituents whose names were on the letters and they told him they oppose riverboat gambling.
Reasor said all of the form letters - of which at least 95 percent were supposedly from people in his district - were apparently printed on a computer. None of the correspondence was signed.
``It's very difficult to read the ZIP code on some of the envelopes,'' Reasor said. ``Most of the letters appear to have been mailed from Northern Virginia.'' He said the letters were in plain business envelopes, although none had a return address.
Reasor said at least one state delegate in Northern Virginia has received similar letters.
The senator said he was surprised at the high volume of mail he received from people in his district who claim they want him to vote in favor of the gambling proposal. If approved, riverboat gambling would probably be developed in Tidewater hundreds of miles from Tazewell.
A bill to allow riverboat gambling survived a House of Delegates committee vote earlier this year, but died in a narrow vote before the full House. The measure is expected to be revived in January when lawmakers return to Richmond.
Reasor said he has ``strong reservations'' about riverboat gambling.
Several southwest Virginia lawmakers said earlier this year that their votes could hinge on whether tax revenues from gambling operations would be distributed statewide.
KEYWORDS: RIVERBOAT GAMBLING
by CNB