In approving the Governor's recommendations for the regulation of "skill games" during the 2020 reconvened session, the General Assembly made it clear that it intended the taxation and regulation of these games as a revenue source to assist in budgetary challenges associated with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.  As proposed, these regulations appear to be designed specifically to reduce or eliminate the availability of skill games in Virginia, and to frustrate the Assembly's intent to utilize the availability and popularity of these games as a new revenue source.  Moreover, certain aspects of the proposed regulations appear to exceed the scope of the amendments to Section 18.2-325 which address skill gaming as passed by the Assembly, and therefore have questionable legal validity.

Specifically:

(1)  The 10% cap on the relocation of games threatens to inhibit the ability of game operators to remove and replace malfunctioning machines, and inhibits the ability of distributors from removing machines from unproductive locations, creating market inefficiencies which will deter participation by distributors and operators.

(2) The limit of six games in ABC licensed establishments and twelve in truckstop facilities is nowhere to be found in the Assembly's action or intent, and appears to be an entirely arbitrary and capricious administrative restriction.

(3)  The definition that one seat constitutes one game fails to recognize that certain gaming formats allow for multiple players to simultaneously utilize a single machine.    

As offered, these regulations appear to inhibit competition, create arbitrary obstacles to distribution and utilization, and provide presumably unintended advantages to certain distributors and operators.  These regulation frustrate and undermine the Assembly's unambiguous intent to facilitate and open skill games for play as a source of revenue generation in response to the Commonwealth's budgetary crisis arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.