VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Mike Wilson said he has held on for as long as he could, but he can't go on much longer following Gov. Glenn Youngkin's amendments to a skill game bill.
Wilson has owned Mike's Break Room in Virginia Beach for over a decade. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Wilson said he turned to skill games to keep his business afloat and it soon became a major part of his finances.
He was forced to turn the games off following a 2021 General Assembly decision to ban the games but had hoped the games could return by 2024. Wilson said he no longer believes that.
"I'm done, we're done, we can't keep up," said Wilson. "I've already cut hours, cut employees, done what I can to stretch it out. But without the games, we can't go on."
The return of skill games has been a long and contentious battle across the Commonwealth. In a bipartisan effort, the General Assembly pushed a bill to the governor's desk that would regulate skill games in a return to the state.
However, in a 76-page amendment, Gov. Youngkin rejected many of the ideas in the bill and added several new conditions.
Some of the most noteworthy highlights include limiting the number of machines a business can have to three, placing the Virginia Lottery in charge of overseeing all of the games and restricting businesses from operating the games if they are within a certain distance from schools and casinos.
According to the new proposal, the games cannot be operated within 2,500 feet of schools and daycares. The games also cannot be operated within 35 miles of a casino.
This poses a major problem for businesses in Hampton Roads who find themselves in that distance. Wilson said his Virginia Beach business is 14 miles from Rivers Casino Portsmouth and will now be caught under that clause.
"Where the heck did he come up with 35 miles, whose idea was that?" questioned Wilson. "Why is it okay for casinos to have games, and be okay with all of that, but for us it's wrong?"
Virginia State Sen. Aaron Rouse also condemned the decision calling the amendments a "slap in the face to thousands of Virginia small businesses."
In a statement, he said: "I am disappointed, too, that after having this bill on his desk for nearly a month, Governor Youngkin waited until this past Saturday to engage with us on the details of the bill, refusing to bring stakeholders, small business owners and those impacted by this legislation to the table for a discussion."
Several groups are applauding the decision, however.
Among those supporters are Virginians Against Neighborhood Slot Machines. The organization said it is still reviewing the decision, but "we thank the Governor and his team for the extensive amount of time and effort put in to come up with a more thoughtful approach."
Lawmakers are set to return to Richmond on April 17 when they will take up Youngkin's amendments, and could either accept the changes or send the bill back to the governor's desk.