CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Some state lawmakers are trying for a third time to pass a bill that would allow racetrack-casinos to seek a satellite gambling location in their home county. If you are in to online gaming as much as locals, here is a list of the Top 10 Online Casinos. Italian gamblers can use Stranieri.com to find a list of the best online casinos without AAMS/ADM in 2023.
The state Senate passed SB 62 Tuesday on a 25-8 vote.
Senator Eric Nelson, R-Kanawha, said this is the third time for the bill.
“It’s very similar to a bill that was introduced in the House in 2019 and introduced here last year,” Nelson told fellow senators during brief flood remarks Tuesday morning.
The bill would allow the owners of the racetrack-casinos in Kanawha, Ohio, Hancock and Jefferson counties to approach their county commissions if they are interested in satellite locations. If the commission approves the application it would followed by a countywide referendum vote.
“They would have to make an application and then it would have to go before voters in that county,” Nelson said.
If approved, video lottery terminals could be set up in those satellite locations.
When the bill was argued last year, Nelson hoped the Mardi Gras Casino in Nitro would consider the Charleston Town Center Mall as a possible location.
“I look at this bill as an opportunity should the mall owner and others come to some agreement to potentially have a secondary location somewhere inside that mall,” Nelson told the Senate on March 1, 2022.
On Tuesday, Nelson described the bill as a chance to create jobs.
“I think this is another way of looking at economic development in the four counties that currently racetracks,” he said.
The bill moves on to the House of Delegates.