THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 8, 1995 TAG: 9501080066
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEC KLEIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
As the electronic scoreboard lit up last February, everyone in the House of Delegates began counting: 10 . . . 20 . . . 30 . . . 40 . . . 49 . . .
Just two more votes were needed to approve the explosive measure - opening the door to riverboat gambling in Virginia. But the scoreboard stalled. Instantly, lawmakers realized the bill wouldn't pass and bailed out as the vote tally began to drop: 48 . . . 46 . . . 44 . . . 42. The boat was grounded.
The official record shows that floating casinos failed by nine votes on that winter day. But it was actually much closer. ``I remember that,'' said House Minority Leader S. Vance Wilkins Jr., R-Amherst, who opposed the measure. ``I thought it was gone for a minute. It scared me. I think it's going to be close, very close, this time.''
For the third consecutive year, the General Assembly will consider a bill on floating casinos. Each round, the boats have inched closer to shore: Two years ago, it foundered in committee, failing to reach the House floor for a vote.
On the eve of the new session opening Wednesday, key lawmakers say they have yet to detect significant political shifts, but the riverboat's chief sponsor - Del. Jerrauld C. Jones, D-Norfolk - said, ``I am cautiously optimistic.
``My sense is, we're doing very well. Support grows every day.''
Advocates project the creation of 24,000 jobs and $123 million annually in state and local revenue. But opponents call it a shell game. ``I really don't think that it's money from heaven,'' Wilkins said. ``I really think it's money being diverted from other expenditures.''
Jones, however, insists it is not meant to be Virginia's economic savior. ``I've never offered it as a
------- panacea,'' he said. ``It's not the be-all and end-all . . . It is a significant source of revenue and from where I stand, I haven't seen another one.''
The timing may be right. Hampton Roads' maritime-industrial complex has been hit hard by defense cutbacks and shipyard layoffs. And now, lawmakers are wrangling with Gov. George F.Allen over hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts and big-ticket spending items.
Voters will ultimately decide how they want to balance the state checkbook. The riverboat bill calls for a statewide referendum and up to 14 floating casinos in seven eastern Virginia locales. Potential sites include Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Hampton, Newport News, York County, Hopewell, Richmond, Petersburg and Fredericksburg.
Virginia, borrowing provisions adopted by the Illinois legislature, would collect 20 percent of all gambling income and share a $2 admissions tax with the locales.
The revenue may be designated for defense conversion and eliminating disparity between wealthy and poor school districts, Jones said. State Sen. Stanley C. Walker, D-Norfolk, is expected to introduce a similar bill.
If the issue gets to a statewide vote - by November at the earliest - it would be likely to take at least six more months to establish a gaming commission and select the developers. The boats could be up and running by late 1996.
But several forces could scuttle the timetable. Opposition is converging from conservatives who question the morality of gambling and from horsemen who fear riverboats will cut the legs out from under the state's first race track, now under construction.
Even more, lawmakers are expected to be particularly attuned to the political winds in an election year for all 140 General Assembly seats.
Some are already concerned about promoting the power and influence of cash-flush casino interests.
``Once we adopt riverboat gambling,'' said Del. Clifton A. Woodrum, D-Roanoke, ``we will never be able to properly control it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Photo
Del. Jerrauld C. Jones, D-Norfolk, says support for riverboats
``grows every day.''
KEYWORDS: RIVERBOAT GAMBLING VIRGINIA by CNB