Virginia Online Casino Bills Pass on Second Effort by Legislators

^{The Virginia House and Senate have voted to approve online casinos within the state after initially rejecting them. (Photo: Charles O. Cecil / Alamy)}

Bills in both the Virginia House and Senate that would legalize online casinos in the state were rejected earlier this week. But in both cases, lawmakers returned to the issue later that day, leading those bills to pass.

Senate Bill 118 passed on a second vote Monday, while House Bill 161 first failed and then passed on two separate readings Tuesday.

Votes Flip in Both Houses on Second Attempt

Initially, the Senate rejected iGaming by a razor-thin 20-19 margin. But hours later, State Senator Schuyler VanValkenburg (D-Hopewell) called for a reconsideration vote after having previously voted against the proposal. At that point, VanValkenburg and two other Senators who had voted no earlier in the day declined to vote on reconsideration, allowing the bill to pass 19-17.

The Senate bill passed with a new provision that would delay any implementation of iGaming until July 1, 2027. Under the legislation, the five existing land-based casinos in Virginia can apply for iGaming licenses at a cost of $500,000 for a five-year period. 

Each casino could partner to launch up to three online casino skins in the state, with each site also requiring a $2 million platform fee. Online casinos would be taxed at 20% of gross gaming revenue, with an additional 6% economic development fee that would support brick-and-mortar casinos in the state.

A similar version played out with the House bill on Tuesday. Initially, the bill failed on a tight 49-46 vote. However, the delegates took a reconsideration vote less than an hour later, and this time passed easily by a 67-30 margin.

Reconciliation Required to Smooth Out Differences in iGaming Bills

The House bill is similar to the Senate version. However, it requires legislators to pass the bill in both the 2026 and 2027 sessions before going into law, and it has a lower 15% tax rate on gaming revenue. It appears that the inclusion of delays in the implementation of online casinos, as well as stronger responsible gambling measures, were key to getting the bills through both houses of the state legislature.

With the two bills envisioning a similar future for iGaming in Virginia, there are a couple of ways the bills could ultimately become law. Either chamber could simply take up the other bill as is, or a conference committee could reconcile the small differences to create a final bill that both houses would pass.

The iGaming bills may have passed only because of prior movement on creating a gaming commission or similar body in Virginia, which has been a priority for Governor Abigail Spanberger. On Monday, the Virginia Senate passed a bill establishing a body to oversee all gambling in the state. A similar bill is currently in committee in the House.

“Our patchwork approach is inefficient,” Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Katie Frazier said last week. “Governor Spanberger is deeply concerned about any discussions of gaming expansion in Virginia without first establishing a single entity with clear authority, consistent standards, and strong compliance and enforcement capabilities.”