Governor says he will not pit the Petersburg casino against sports arena, but won't commit to signing it

Bill Atkinson, Petersburg Progress-Index
·3 min read
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Gov. Glenn Youngkin, left, says he has no plans to hold the Petersburg casino referendum bill, co-sponsored by Democratic Sens. Louise Lucas, center, and Lashrecse Aird, hostage to persuade Lucas to reverse her steadfast opposition to a governor-backed $2 billion sports arena in Alexandria. However, Youngkin demurred on committing to signing the bill, too, saying he was going through 'over a thousand bills' sent to him by the 2024 General Assembly

PETERSBURG – Gov. Glenn Youngkin said Tuesday his administration has no plans to use the Petersburg casino referendum bill as leverage for approval of a new sports arena in northern Virginia, but he stopped short of officially committing to signing it, also.

“I’m not holding anything as part of a negotiation on the Potomac Yard development with the Monumental opportunity,” the governor said after a dedication ceremony in Petersburg for the new Goodr Mobile Market. “It’s a spectacular project. It stands on its own. It’s compelling for the entire commonwealth, and therefore, we should do it.”

The Progress-Index asked Youngkin to respond to some Democratic insinuations that he could withhold action on the casino until one of its chief patrons relents on her opposition to the arena proposal in Alexandria. Youngkin pushed the 2024 General Assembly for budget funding for a $2 billion sports arena at Potomac Yard that would be the new home of the NBA’s Washington Wizards and the NHL’s Washington Capitals. Both teams are owned by Monumental Sports & Entertainment and currently reside at Capital One Arena in downtown Washington.

Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth and chair of the budget-writing Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee, has vehemently opposed building the new arena. She also is a co-patron with Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, on legislation that would bring a casino referendum to Petersburg voters. That bill cleared both legislative chambers with a re-enactment clause that would require a second Assembly passage during either a regular or special session.

When asked directly by The Progress-Index if he would commit to signing the casino legislation, Youngkin – who has made his affinity for Petersburg well known with his “Partnership for Petersburg” initiative – demurred to the standard answer his administration has stuck with on all legislative inquiries: “We’ll see.”

“They passed over a thousand bills,” Youngkin said. “I’m giving every single bill real consideration.”

He did question the need for a re-enactment clause on the casino bill that was tacked on as an amendment during House deliberations.

“Why was there a re-enactment clause placed on it? What does the mayor think? What do the city councilmembers think?” Youngkin said. “So, I’m digging in and speaking to folks particularly engaged in this as to why the legislation is where it is.”

Petersburg Mayor Sam Parham, who stood at the governor’s shoulder during the press gaggle, was asked by The Progress-Index to respond to what the governor said.

“I want to ask for his support on this,” Parham said. “The people of Petersburg are really excited to see this move through.”

Aird, who was also at the ribbon-cutting and briefly pow-wowed with the governor afterward, said there was some “misinformation going around” about the re-enactment clause that she and others were working on to clarify.

If it is still an impasse in approving the 2024-26 biennium budget, the Potomac Yard arena proposal could wind up helping the casino referendum. If Youngkin vetoes the budget sent to him by the Assembly – and early indications point to that as a strong possibility – then a special legislative session would be called to work on it. That gives Aird and Petersburg casino-vote supporters the opportunity to impose the re-enactment clause and get the casino before Petersburg voters as early as this November.

In the meantime, Monday was the self-imposed deadline for vendors to submit bids for building a casino-centric mixed-use development in Petersburg. A spokesperson for Petersburg said Tuesday she had no information on how many bids were submitted or what the timeframe was for vetting them and making recommendations to council.

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Governor says he has reservations about casino bill re-enactment clause