The Richmond casino time warp
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
The lead story in the inaugural Axios Richmond edition was about state lawmakers blocking the city from holding a second casino referendum.
What's happening: A year later, the resulting one-year moratorium is expiring, and Mayor Levar Stoney announced plans last week to get the proposal on the November ballot.
State of play: A second referendum still isn't a done deal.
- Lawmakers left town without passing a budget, but they held out hope they'd reach an agreement by July 1. And if they do, they could once again use the document to block Richmond from moving forward.
What they're saying: Stoney's office said the latest move to re-up the referendum is about being prepared and meeting state-mandated deadlines.
- Stoney continues to frame the casino as a too-good-to-pass-up economic development opportunity, re-upping estimates that the project would create 1,300 jobs and bring in $30 million in new tax revenue every year.
The other side: Stoney's arch nemesis on the issue, Sen. Joe Morrissey, says he hasn't given up his efforts to steer the project to Petersburg, where public officials have been lobbying for a crack at the plan since Richmond voters first rejected the proposal in 2021.
- Morrissey tells Axios he expects lawmakers will once again use the state budget to block a referendum in Richmond this year, allowing another year of debate and study.
- "There appears to be a consensus," Morrissey told Axios.
What's next: We wait.
- For one, it's not clear that lawmakers will ever reach an agreement on the state budget, in which case Richmond is in the clear to proceed with a referendum.
- And if they do, there's truly no telling what will be in it. It is, after all, an election year.