I'm a small business owner (Bar/Restaurant). The Paceomatic (Queen) skill games have kept us along with many similar businesses throughout the years in business. We've paid our taxes to the city through our business license fee along with our monthly sales taxes on income. We have 2 Casinos within 7 miles of each other (Rivers in Portsmouth and the Norfolk temporary casino along with a gaming facilities in Hampton, New Kent etc. These skill games allow us to provide better working conditions and better pay for our employees along with a nicer facility and food options for our patrons. I just wanted to throw in my 2 cents because 2 of the 3 comments I read were from the NEGATIVE NELLIES who just don't like and have never liked any sort of skill game play. I have no problem with the proposed taxes, it's only far the state get their portion also. Thanks for reading this.

The Georgia based Paceomatic company who brought these machines to Virginia 12 years ago are desperately trying to get our lawmakers to legalize them so they can continue to use their devices to take advantage of our fellow Virginians, mostly from economically depressed areas around the state. To this end they and their other affiliated groups have donated over $2 million to our legislators to buy political influence and they have so far hired SIXTEEN LOBBYISTS to convince our general assembly members to get what they want. This begets the question, if these convenience store slot machines are such a good deal for Va, why the need to contribute over $2 million to our legislators and hire a record breaking 16 lobbyists to plead their case? The answer is clear, they aren’t. We need to eradicate these machines, not legalize them. The Paceomatic company and their army of lobbyists only seeks to enrich themselves at our expense. And shame on the lobbyists who are doing their dirty work who only care about the paychecks they are receiving.

Although I take no position on the bill, as an expert in electronic gaming devices—including so-called skill games—I have some recommendations to offer that will tighten the integrity of the games and better protect Virginians. Please see the attached report.

This bill would legalize predatory gas station slot machines. A company run by a millionaire political donor who continues to place these machines almost entirely in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods. I’m a constituent, and I’m urging you to oppose legalizing skill games. Instead of taxing regular people, legislators should look to closing loopholes for corporations and the ultra-wealthy. Thank you for standing up for our community.