SB661 • 2026

Va. Small Business Economic Dev. Act; established, regulation and taxation of skill game machines.

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-3711, as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, 18.2-325, 18.2-334, 19.2-389, as it is currently effective and as it shall become effective, 18.2-331.1, 18.2-339, 37.2-314.2, 58.1-4002, 58.1-4003, 58.1-4006, 58.1-4007, 58.1-4015.1, 58.1-4048, and 58.1-4103 of the Code of Virginia and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 3 of Title 11 a section numbered 11-16.3, by adding sections numbered 18.2-334.7 and 19.2-386.30:1, and by adding in Title 58.1 a chapter numbered 42, containing articles numbered 1 through 5, consisting of sections numbered 58.1-4200 through 58.1-4226, relating to regulation of gaming commerce and development in the Commonwealth; penalties.

Small Business Taxes

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Rouse
Last action: 2026-04-22
Official status: Governor's Veto
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill was vetoed by the Governor, which means it is not currently in effect and its implementation is uncertain.

Virginia Law for Skill Game Machines

This law sets rules for electronic skill gaming devices in Virginia, including licensing requirements, taxation, and penalties.

What This Bill Does

Establishes regulations for the manufacture, distribution, operation, hosting, and playing of electronic skill gaming devices under the authority of the Virginia Lottery.
Imposes a 25 percent tax on all gross profits generated from these games.
Sets up a fund called the Virginia Gaming Commerce and Development Fund to hold tax proceeds.
Adds penalties for violations related to electronic skill gaming devices.

Who It Names or Affects

People who make, sell, or run electronic skill gaming devices in Virginia.
Players of these games.
The state government agencies responsible for regulating gambling and collecting taxes.

Terms To Know

Electronic Skill Gaming Devices: Special machines that people can play to win prizes or money based on skill, not just luck.
Virginia Lottery: The state agency in Virginia responsible for running lotteries and now also regulating electronic skill gaming devices.

Limits and Unknowns

This bill was vetoed by the Governor due to concerns about regulation and potential harms.
It is not clear when or if this law will actually be put into effect.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

SB661AC

2026-03-13 • Conference

Conference Report

Plain English: The amendment recommends rejecting a previous House Amendment and accepting a new one to resolve disagreements over Senate Bill No. 661.

Rejects the previously proposed House Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (26108505D).
Accepts a new Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (26109973D) to address disagreements.

The specific details and content of the new amendment are not provided, making it unclear what concrete changes will be made.
Without further information on the rejected House Amendment, it is difficult to explain its full impact or why it was rejected.

SB661AC1

2026-03-14 • Conference

Conference Report

Plain English: The amendment recommends rejecting a previous House Amendment and accepting a new one to resolve disagreements over Senate Bill No. 661.

Rejects the previously proposed House Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (26108505D).
Accepts a new Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (26110092D) to address disagreements.

The specific details and content of the new amendment are not provided, making it unclear what concrete changes will be made.
Without additional context or text from the new amendment, it is difficult to explain further specifics about its impact.

SB661ASC1

2026-01-28 • Committee

General Laws and Technology Amendment

Plain English: The amendment changes the rules about how players can pay to use certain machines and what counts as playing those machines.

Adds that players cannot put coins, currency, bitcoin, tickets, tokens, or anything of value into a skill game machine to play it.
Allows skill game machines to accept credit card payments.

SB661AS1

2026-01-29 • Committee

General Laws and Technology Amendment

Plain English: The amendment changes the rules about how players can pay to use certain machines by adding new ways of paying and removing some old ones.

Removes the option for players to insert coins, currency, bitcoin, tickets, tokens, or anything else of value into skill game machines.
Adds the ability for skill game machines to accept credit cards as a payment method.

SB661S2

2026-03-13 • Conference

Conference Report Substitute

Plain English: The amendment changes several sections of Virginia's laws to regulate gaming commerce and development, including adding new sections for penalties.

Amends and reenacts multiple existing sections of the Code of Virginia related to various aspects of public bodies and their operations.
Adds new sections in Title 18.2 and Title 58.1 of the Code of Virginia to regulate gaming commerce and development, including penalties for violations.

The provided text is incomplete and does not specify all changes made by the amendment, making it difficult to provide a comprehensive summary.
Technical legal language used in the amendment makes some parts hard to interpret without additional context or explanation.

SB661S3

2026-03-14 • Conference

Conference Report Substitute

Plain English: The amendment changes several sections of Virginia's laws to regulate gaming commerce and development, including adding new sections for penalties.

Amends and reenacts multiple existing sections of Virginia law related to public bodies' closed meetings, regulation of gaming, economic development, and taxation.
Adds new sections in Title 18.2 and Title 58.1 of the Code of Virginia to establish penalties for violations related to skill game machines and gaming commerce.

The amendment text is complex and involves numerous legal changes that are not fully detailed here.
Specific details about new sections added (like 11-16.3, 18.2-334.7, etc.) are not provided in the given material.

Bill History

2026-04-22 Senate
Passed by for the day
2026-04-22 Senate
Passed by for the day (Voice Vote)
2026-04-13 Governor
Vetoed by Governor
2026-04-07 Senate
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB661)
2026-03-31 Senate
Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026
2026-03-31 Governor
Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026
2026-03-31 House
Signed by Speaker
2026-03-31 Senate
Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 31, 2026
2026-03-31 Governor
Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026
2026-03-30 Senate
Signed by President
2026-03-30 Senate
Enrolled
2026-03-30 Senate
Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB661ER)
2026-03-27 Senate
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB661)
2026-03-14 Senate
Second conferees appointed by Senate
2026-03-14 Senate
Conference report agreed to by Senate
2026-03-14 Senate
Conference report agreed to by Senate
2026-03-14 Senate
Second conferees appointed by Senate
2026-03-14 Senate
Senate Conferees: Rouse, McPike, Head
2026-03-14 House
House acceded to request for second conference committee
2026-03-14 House
House Conferees: Hayes, Krizek, Kilgore
2026-03-14 Senate
Senate requested second conference committee (33-Y 6-N 0-A)
2026-03-14 House
Conferees appointed by House
2026-03-14 House
House Conferees: Hayes, Krizek, Kilgore
2026-03-14 Conference
Conference Report released
2026-03-14 Conference
Conference Report released
2026-03-14 Conference
Conference Report released
2026-03-14 Senate
Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (3/14/2026 4:43 pm)
2026-03-14 House
Reconsideration of conference report rejected by House
2026-03-14 House
Passed by temporarily
2026-03-14 Senate
Conference report agreed to by Senate (23-Y 15-N 0-A)
2026-03-14 Senate
Reconsideration of conference report agreed to by Senate (38-Y 0-N 0-A)
2026-03-14 Senate
Conference report agreed to by Senate (23-Y 15-N 0-A)
2026-03-14 House
Conference report agreed to by House (57-Y 38-N 1-A)
2026-03-14 House
Conference report rejected by House (49-Y 44-N 3-A)
2026-03-13 Conference
Conference Report released
2026-03-13 Senate
Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (3/13/2026 7:36 pm)
2026-03-13 Senate
Conference report agreed to by Senate (25-Y 14-N 0-A)
2026-03-04 Senate
Conferees appointed by Senate
2026-03-04 Senate
Conferees appointed by Senate
2026-03-04 Senate
Senate Conferees: Rouse, McPike, Head
2026-03-04 Senate
Senate Conferees: Rouse, McPike, Head
2026-03-04 Senate
House substitute rejected by Senate (0-Y 40-N 0-A)
2026-03-04 House
House insisted on substitute
2026-03-04 House
House requested conference committee
2026-03-04 Senate
Senate acceded to request Block Vote (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
2026-03-04 House
Conferees appointed by House
2026-03-04 House
House Conferees: Hayes, Krizek, Kilgore
2026-03-03 House
Read third time
2026-03-03 House
committee substitute agreed to
2026-03-03 House
Engrossed by House - committee substitute
2026-03-03 House
Passed House with substitute (57-Y 39-N 1-A)
2026-03-02 House
Passed by for the day
2026-03-02 General Laws
Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (SB661)
2026-02-27 House
Passed by for the day
2026-02-26 House
Read second time
2026-02-25 General Laws
Committee substitute printed 26108505D-H1
2026-02-25 General Laws
Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (2/25/2026 1:02 pm)
2026-02-24 General Laws
Reported from General Laws with substitute (14-Y 6-N)
2026-02-24 General Laws
Reconsidered by General Laws (Voice Vote)
2026-02-24 General Laws
Reported from General Laws with substitute (11-Y 9-N)
2026-02-24 House
House committee offered
2026-02-19 House
Placed on Calendar
2026-02-19 House
Read first time
2026-02-19 General Laws
Referred to Committee on General Laws
2026-02-13 Senate
Read third time and passed Senate (24-Y 15-N 0-A)
2026-02-12 Senate
Read second time
2026-02-12 Senate
Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute (Voice Vote)
2026-02-12 General Laws and Technology
Committee amendments rejected (Voice Vote)
2026-02-12 Finance and Appropriations
Finance and Appropriations Substitute agreed to
2026-02-12 Senate
Engrossed by Senate (Voice Vote)
2026-02-11 Senate
Rules suspended
2026-02-11 Senate
Passed by for the day
2026-02-11 Finance and Appropriations
Committee substitute printed 26107646D-S1
2026-02-11 Senate
Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 1st reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
2026-02-11 Senate
Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
2026-02-11 Finance and Appropriations
Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (2/11/2026 3:58 pm)
2026-02-10 Finance and Appropriations
Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (10-Y 5-N)
2026-01-28 General Laws and Technology
Reported from General Laws and Technology with amendments and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (8-Y 6-N)
2026-01-28 Senate
Senate committee offered
2026-01-23 Gaming
Assigned GL&T sub: Gaming
2026-01-20 Senate
Fiscal Impact statement From VCSC (1/20/2026 4:37 pm)
2026-01-14 Senate
Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104931D
2026-01-14 General Laws and Technology
Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology

Official Summary Text

Regulation and taxation of electronic skill gaming devices; penalties.
Authorizes and specifies the registration and licensing requirements for the manufacture, distribution, operation, hosting, and playing of electronic skill gaming devices, as defined in the bill, under the regulatory authority of the Virginia Lottery. The bill imposes a 25 percent tax on all gross profits generated from the play of such electronic skill gaming devices and provides for the use of such tax proceeds after deposit in the Virginia Gaming Commerce and Development Fund, established in the bill. The bill also imposes criminal and civil penalties for violations of the law and regulations related to electronic skill gaming devices.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

(SB661)
GOVERNOR'S VETO
Pursuant to Article V, Section 6 of the Constitution of Virginia, I veto Senate Bill 661, which would legalize electronic skill gaming devices in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The rapid expansion of gaming in Virginia over the last decade has outpaced the Commonwealth's ability to provide consistent enforcement, robust public safety oversight, and meaningful assessments of the potential impacts or harms of gaming in all its forms.
Senate Bill 661 would strain an already fragmented system and introduce thousands more machines without a comprehensive regulatory structure. In the absence of a single, independent, and dedicated entity responsible for regulating all forms of gaming, Virginia is not positioned to ensure compliance, prevent illicit activity, protect consumers, or evaluate and respond to community impacts or harms.
There is already data to demonstrate the ways in which an unregulated process harms communities. Notably, when electronic skill gaming devices were legal in the Commonwealth between 2020 and 2021, the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority collected data on device placement, wagers, and awards. The data clearly show that devices were disproportionately located in communities where higher percentages of the population live below the poverty line, communities with lower rates of educational attainment, and communities where higher percentages of the population are Black and Hispanic. The data enumerate the millions of dollars in wagers made resulting in millions of dollars flowing out of these communities, but without an entity in place to evaluate and mitigate social, economic, and public impacts, the Commonwealth is not positioned to expand gaming and legalize electronic skill gaming devices.
I remain committed to working with the General Assembly to ensure that any future approach to gaming expansion prioritizes consumer protection, public safety, public health, and the economic and social wellbeing of all our communities.
Accordingly, I veto this bill.