Legislative panel seeks to purge members of charitable gaming board
January 26, 2022
by: Michael Martz
Armed with a damning report from the state’s inspector general, members of a legislative subcommittee are pushing to remove members of the Virginia Charitable Gaming Board over alleged conflicts of interests and take away the panel’s regulatory power.
Four legislators have asked House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, to replace three members of the 11-member board who serve at his pleasure, including Chairman Chuck Lessin, a Richmond businessman who participated in drafting regulations for Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournaments while starting a business to run the new gaming opportunity.
They cited a report issued last year by the Office of the Inspector General that “found there were financial conflict of interest violations by members of the board.”
“Our joint subcommittee listened to testimony and came to the same conclusion,” states the letter, signed by Sens. John Bell, D-Loudoun; Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania; Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria; and Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax.
Lessin, a longtime operator of charitable bingo games, denied a conflict of interest in his ownership of Pop’s Poker Parlor in South Richmond and accused both the inspector general and the legislative subcommittee of bias in their investigations.
“The conflict of interest accusation is really unfair,” he said on Monday, after legislators held a news conference on their findings and publicly released the letter to Gilbert.
Gilbert had no immediate comment on the request. “The Speaker has received the letter,” spokesman Garren Shipley said. “He looks forward to speaking with the authors directly and learning more about their concerns.”
Bell, vice chairman of the subcommittee, said legislators plan to send similar letters to Gov. Glenn Youngkin to replace the six members who serve by gubernatorial appointment and to the Senate Rules Committee to appoint new members to two seats it controls on the board.
He said they began with the three seats under the authority of the Speaker because one of them is held by Lessin. Another is held by Lasonya Black and the third is vacant.
“We have lost faith in the leadership on the board,” Bell said in an interview Tuesday. “We need a fresh board.”
The inspector general alleged a conflict of interest by Lessin, who participated in the drafting of state regulations for charities to run Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournaments under legislation adopted two years ago.
Lessin said he declared his financial interest in a new company that would operate the tournaments and followed the advice of the assistant attorney general who advised the board.
“I’m going to appeal to the Speaker,” he said.
The regulations were supposed to take effect on March 23, 2021, but were blocked by an amendment to the state budget that froze charitable gaming regulations that were already in place. It also directed the inspector general’s office to undertake the study.
The inspector general made more than a dozen recommendations, including one to remove the charitable gaming board’s regulatory authority by making it solely an advisory board to the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Currently, the board is an independent policy board and has a contentious, litigious relationship with the oversight agency.
Krizek, chairman of the legislative subcommittee, and Reeves have introduced legislation that would change the board’s status, which Lessin opposes.
“What you’re going to see is legislation to stop it, reel it back in and take away the regulatory authority of the board,” Reeves said Monday.
Lessin said the legislative subcommittee is “biased” against the board, which he said includes members of the industries it regulates as required by state law.
Bell said members of the subcommittee have submitted six pieces of legislation to carry out recommendations of the inspector general, but want to act now to replace members of the board.
“We felt this is where we needed to start,” he said.