Vote on Virginia is for Bettors Postponed Until Tuesday

RICHMOND, Va. — A vote on banning the "Virginia is for Bettors" slogan has been postponed until tomorrow, according to the commonwealth's press secretary.  It wasn't immediately clear the reason for the delay.

Earlier this month, the 40-member Virginia State Senate, the upper body of the state legislature, passed the bill by a unanimous 40 to 0 vote.

The bill’s main sponsor is Virginia State Senator Thomas Norment, a Republican who became angry when he recently heard a gambling commercial on his car radio that declared “Virginia is for bettors.”

It is a bastardized version of the commonwealth's famous "Virginia is for Lovers" slogan.

A website operated by the Gambling.com Group and licensed to promote online gambling affiliate deals still maintained its VirginiaIsForBettors.com website as of Monday night.  The debased version of the beloved slogan is featured prominently in the website logo. 

In an interview with Gambling 911 on Friday, Norment’s press secretary, Jeff Ryer, tells our own Thomas Somach the bill is scheduled to be voted on by the House of Delegates.

“A House sub-committee previously approved the bill by a unanimous 22 to 0 vote, so now the bill goes to the full House for a vote,” Ryer said.

“If the House approves it, then it will be up to Governor Glenn Youngkin to sign it into law,” he said.

Ryer said he has “no idea” whether the governor plans to sign the bill.

“If the governor vetoes the bill, though, there is a process in place for the state legislature to override the veto,” Ryer said.

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com