ROANOKE, Va. — More than 9,000 electronic gaming machines are currently in circulation in Virginia. But state lawmakers have said the machines will be banned next year.
The Roanoke Times reports that the Virginia Department of Taxation estimates the machines contributed about $12 million in tax payments in July. Most of that tax revenue has gone into a newly established COVID-19 relief fund.
At the beginning of the year, the General Assembly wanted to ban the machines, but later decided to allow the machines to continue to operate for another year as a lifeline to struggling businesses and as a source of additional revenue to help with coronavirus services.
