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* This Virginia Mercury story is mildly amusing on two levels outside of the paper’s legit local angles…

A coalition of gambling companies hoping to get slot machines back into Virginia convenience stores and bars kicked off its legislative push this week with a private flight for four lawmakers to Chicago.

While the plush jet raised some eyebrows — Virginia politicians have generally eschewed gifts of private air travel after scandal consumed former Gov. Bob McDonnell — organizers said it was strictly an opportunity to learn from Illinois, which broadly legalized video gambling terminals in 2009.

“It was a fact-finding mission,” said Dylan Bishop, the lobbyist who organized the trip on behalf of the new Va. Video Gaming Terminal Coalition, which represents five gambling operators that have collectively given nearly a quarter million dollars to Virginia politicians in recent years, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. […]

Like Bishop, who organized the trip, Morrissey framed the roughly 36-hour excursion as all-business, beginning with a stop in Effingham, Ill., where J&J Ventures Gaming is headquartered. The company is the state’s most profitable video gambling operator, according to industry press. […]

The group then flew into Chicago, where they met with state lawmakers who work on gambling legislation.

1) The City of Chicago has never opted in to legalized video gaming;

2) They flew into Effingham, the heart of the Eastern Bloc, to talk about… gambling.

That’s it. I got nothing else. Talk amongst yourselves.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jul 23, 21 @ 9:13 am

Comments

===collectively given nearly a quarter million dollars to Virginia politicians ===
There’s their problem. You just can’t do this on the cheap.

Comment by Bruce( no not him) Friday, Jul 23, 21 @ 9:21 am
I thought the farthest East the bosses could go was Kansas City… with the suitcases… no?

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Jul 23, 21 @ 9:34 am
They didn’t go to the new Wally’s. How can they call this a real fact-finding trip???

Comment by 55 Rider Friday, Jul 23, 21 @ 9:38 am
My brain just imploded and the room is spinning because of the irony.

Travel to a wannabe theocracy for…gambling information?

Comment by JS Mill Friday, Jul 23, 21 @ 9:54 am
1. I had no idea J&J Ventures was making so much money. Are they thinking about selling stock in their company.

2. I certainly wouldn’t have minded being a fly on the wall of the room where the confab took place. I’m super curious regarding what was shared.

3. Remember, Virginia has lots of places that resemble Bible towns. Wouldn’t be at all surprised to find out a large part of the discussion was about how to sell gambling machines in those types of places.

(You take the small town that was the county seat where I grew up. I guarantee you can place it in any state that was formerly a Confederate state, and not a single thing would change, except the zip code.)

Comment by Lynn S. Friday, Jul 23, 21 @ 10:06 am
*Bible belt

Comment by Lynn S. Friday, Jul 23, 21 @ 10:07 am
Ah well: hate the sin, love the taxes from the sinner.

Comment by bkhartbnjo Friday, Jul 23, 21 @ 10:26 am
How can anyone say that Chicago does not permit video gambling machines? Every other gas station and pizza place has them.

Comment by The Tank Friday, Jul 23, 21 @ 10:29 am
Saw enuf when:
== , the lobbyist who organized the trip on behalf of the new Va. Video Gaming Terminal Coalition ==

‘All bidness’, eh ?

Comment by sal-says Friday, Jul 23, 21 @ 10:44 am
@The Tank: There are entire categories of crimes that CPD and the CCSA ignore.

Comment by Homebody Friday, Jul 23, 21 @ 11:18 am
I’m surprised they didn’t come to Springfield and Jerome and go down South MacArthur and West Wabash. With all the slot places it’s like a Little Vegas on those two streets. Not to mention all the title loans and pawn shops and other non-essential businesses that sadly make up most of MacArthur.

Comment by EssentialStateEmployeeFromChatham Friday, Jul 23, 21 @ 12:17 pm
Ah yes, Effingham, home of family values, especially if your family is addicted to video gambling.

Comment by Sir Friday, Jul 23, 21 @ 12:34 pm
It’s okay to explicitly profit from the gambling industry so long as you do it within a 3 mile radius of a comically large and poorly constructed cross.

This is covered in Romans 17.

Comment by Candy Dogood Friday, Jul 23, 21 @ 1:43 pm
=Not to mention all the title loans and pawn shops and other non-essential businesses that sadly make up most of MacArthur=

Easy there cowboy. Both of those streets have some excellent businesses–HyVee, auto repair shops, dance studio, nice restaurants/eateries. If you don’t like Wabash and MacArthur, then drive up and down Chatham road and bask in the glory of Illini Country Club.

Comment by Steve Rogers Friday, Jul 23, 21 @ 2:01 pm
===How can anyone say that Chicago does not permit video gambling machines? Every other gas station and pizza place has them.===

Those are the ’sweepstakes machines’ that are totally unregulated (not monitored by the gaming commission, etc). A certain retired Representative got a law change (effective 2014 I think?) that made the legality/illegality so ambiguous that prosecutors are wary of trying to prosecute. Those machines have been a topic here a time or two (or more).

Comment by Leslie K Friday, Jul 23, 21 @ 2:16 pm
It’s actually very complex in this busy life to listen news on Television,
thus I just use world wide web for that purpose, and take the hottest information.

Comment by slot Thursday, Aug 12, 21 @ 6:15 am