THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 31, 1995 TAG: 9501310012
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
The Virginia House of Delegates' General Laws Committee tomorrow is scheduled to consider a bill, sponsored by Del. Jerrauld C. Jones, D-Norfolk, that could bring as many as 14 riverboat casinos to seven localities in Eastern Virginia: if a majority of voters casting ballots in a statewide referendum approve and if voting majorities in localities that could accommodate cruising gambling boats give the nod.
Those are big ifs. Although the temptation for voters to welcome riverboat casinos is immense, the Christian Coalition - indeed, much of the religious community - opposes gambling for moral and economic reasons. Misgivings could prevail. Understandably: Gambling, like alcohol, is fraught with hazards that even strict regulation does not eliminate.
So opponents stress the downside of casinos: the destructiveness of compulsive gambling, the flow of wealth to far-off investors, the potential for corrupting the political process. Opponents also note that casual and addicted gamblers could descend on localities, multiplying traffic, crime and welfare burdens and forcing some existing enterprises out of business.
Proponents, including state and local officials, stress the upside of casinos. They argue that casinos would enhance Virginia's appeal to tourists by giving travelers and conventioneers yet another reason to come to the Old Dominion.
The bill before the general-laws panel is Delegate Jones' third try at putting the casino question to the voters. The electorate would decide whether to welcome the riverboats. It's pertinent, perhaps, that Virginians said yes in previous referenda to liquor by the drink, the state lottery and pari-mutuel racing.
Of course, any riverboat-gambling vote would occur within the context of casinos' spreading popularity. North Carolina will soon have an Indian-reservation casino. Slot machines are legal in West Virginia, and casino gambling at the Greenbrier resort and elsewhere seems possible. Casinos may come to Pennsylvania. ``Americans hit the casinos 92 million times last year, twice as often as three years ago,'' USA Today reported in August, citing a Yankelovich survey.
That's a lot of action. Norfolk, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News and Richmond, among others, are itching for some of it because of the millions in tax revenue and the hundreds of jobs, including building boats, that casinos would generate.
No decision on expanding legal-gambling options should be made in the abstract. How riverboat casinos would be regulated, their growth contained and their tax revenues distributed are relevant to any decision making. The Jones bill addresses these and other questions. It is a carefully crafted vehicle for carrying the casino issue to the people. It should pass. by CNB