
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 1, 1994                   TAG: 9403010046
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE and GREG SCHNEIDER STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

BUCKS TRY TO REFLOAT RIVERBOATS

If riverboat gambling gets a second chance this year in the General Assembly, it will be the result of a simple rule that most legislators don't like to admit:

Money equals votes.

Lawmakers who helped defeat the gaming issue last month by a vote of 42-55 in the House of Delegates have been told their districts will get a slice of the project's tax revenue if they switch their votes.

The deal was too good to pass up for Del. Creigh Deeds, a Democrat from Warm Springs. Deeds has agreed to switch his vote because riverboat gambling lobbyists offered to dedicate 2 percent of the project's tax revenue - or as much as $2.4 million a year - to clean up the Kim-Stan Landfill in his district.

"I will take the heat for this," Deeds said. "People demand results. Sometimes you have to look for opportunities. . . . With money for Kim-Stan and jobs creation, how can I go back home and tell the people I voted against it?"

At least seven more delegates must cross over with Deeds to guarantee the 50 votes needed for passage. If they do, the riverboat issue can be reconsidered only if it is attached to some other piece of legislation, most likely a bingo bill that could come up for a vote today.

The effort to revive riverboat gambling has taken trading cash for votes to Byzantine levels. Supporters already have pledged 40 percent of the annual $123 million in state tax revenue anticipated from riverboat gambling to woo large blocs of legislators from Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and Southwest Virginia.

Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994

by CNB