弗吉尼亚州：州长再否决博彩扩张法案：要求先设立独立博彩监管机构
弗吉尼亚州州长 Abigail Spanberger 本周再度否决一项博彩扩张法案。继否决让 Fairfax County 取得商业赌场资格的法案一天后，她又否决了恢复技能游戏监管框架的法案，并明确表示，在议会先批准并拨款设立独立博彩监管委员会之前，她不会签署授权新增博彩的立法。
Spanberger 表示，过去十年弗吉尼亚州博彩扩张的速度已超出该州提供统一执法、有力公共安全监督并评估博彩各种影响的能力，缺乏集中的监管机构会留下执法空白，威胁消费者保护。她还指出，技能游戏此前临时合法期间，设备不成比例地集中在贫困人口比例较高、教育程度较低以及黑人与西语裔居民较多的社区。
形似老虎机的技能游戏在疫情期间曾临时合法以扶持小商家，2021年后转为非法，法律争议持续至2023年10月州最高法院裁决。自2020年以来，该州议会已先后批准五地赌场以及零售与移动体育博彩，相关监管目前由州彩票委员会承担。
Virginia: Governor Vetoes Another Gaming Expansion Bill: Demands Independent Regulatory Authority First
In Virginia, Governor Abigail Spanberger this week vetoed another gaming expansion bill. A day after vetoing a bill to qualify Fairfax County for a commercial casino, she vetoed a measure to restore the regulatory framework for skill games, making clear she will not sign legislation authorizing additional gambling unless lawmakers first approve and fund an independent gaming regulatory commission.
Spanberger said the rapid expansion of gaming in Virginia over the last decade has outpaced the Commonwealth's ability to provide consistent enforcement, robust public safety oversight and meaningful assessment of gaming's impacts and harms, and that the absence of a centralized authority creates oversight gaps. She also cited data showing that during the temporary legalization of skill games, the devices were disproportionately located in communities with higher poverty rates, lower education levels and larger Black and Hispanic populations.
The slot-like skill games were temporarily legalized during the pandemic to support small businesses, became illegal in 2021, and remained in legal dispute until the state Supreme Court ruled in October 2023. Since 2020, lawmakers have approved casinos in five locations plus retail and mobile sports betting, with regulation currently assigned to the Virginia Lottery Board.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：弗吉尼亚州 Richmond 的 James River 与市区。Morgan Riley 摄，CC BY 3.0 授权，经 Wikimedia Commons 发布。 / Image: the James River and downtown Richmond, Virginia. Photo by Morgan Riley, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
