RICHMOND, Va. -- Opponents of efforts to legalize skill games in Virginia rallied at the State Capitol on Tuesday as competing plans on how to open up that market make their way through the General Assembly.
Several groups joined together to hold a news conference expressing concerns about the impact the machines will have in neighborhoods and on children exposed to them.
Advocates for the skill games are in favor of the Senate version that allows more machines in a business and has a lower tax rate.
They said the machines needed to be legalized to help small businesses financially and called the concerns about community impact unwarranted.
"We don't allow the kids to play the games. And if the kids are playing the games, they can't win anything in playing the games, because they need to have an ID proving their age. And we supervise it and we make sure it doesn't happen," Richard Kelly, the president of the Virginia Merchants and Amusement Coalition, said.
Richmond-area teacher Lorin Johnson said it goes beyond winning and losing the game.
"Low-income communities need jobs and better schools, not slot machines on every corner," Johnson said. "These convenience store slot machines do not promote the kind of values I want in the children in my community."
For years, the machines have proliferated as policymakers grapple with how to regulate them amid a big-money lobbying fight featuring stiff casino industry opposition to the devices, also known as skill games. They are currently prohibited in Virginia under a ban passed in 2020.
A spokesperson for Governor Glenn Youngkin (R - Virginia) said the administration had serious concerns with both versions of the bill, including issues with tax rates, the number of machines, and broader public safety implications.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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