by Jon Baliles
The road to a casino in the General Assembly is on a roller coaster ride that is careening down the hill and likely to jump the tracks at any minute. Last week alone, the bill that would allow a casino referendum in Petersburg and block a second one in Richmond until Petersburg has a chance has taken the following ride:
- Cleared a Finance General Laws subcommittee on a 7-2 vote on January 26;
- Cleared a Senate General Laws committee on a 11-4 vote Wednesday;
- Failed in a Senate Finance committee on a 7-8 vote Thursday evening;
- Cleared a House of Delegates General Laws subcommittee on a 5-2 vote on Tuesday;
- Cleared a House of Delegates General Laws committee vote 7-4 on Thursday;
- Cleared the House of Delegates Appropriations committee 11-9 on Friday afternoon.
So what’s next? Well, there are three possibilities: (1) the bill dies because the House and Senate won’t find a suitable compromise, which means the Petersburg proposal could vanish and Richmond gets another referendum; (2) the Petersburg referendum is inserted into the final budget language (as it was last year) and their referendum will proceed and Richmond’s put on hold; or (3) the zombie apocalypse will commence.
Personally, I’m rooting for the apocalypse. Continue reading
