Virginia Lottery; powers and duties of Board, sports betting, etc.

Virginia Lottery; repeal prohibition against sale of lottery tickets over the Internet; sports betting; Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund; penalties. Directs the Virginia Lottery (the Lottery) to regulate sports betting. The bill prohibits the Lottery from issuing any permits to conduct sports betting until it has developed and published a consumer protection bill of rights.Before administering a sports betting operation, an entity is required to apply for a three-year permit and pay an application fee of $250,000. Permit holders must apply for renewal of a permit every three years, which includes a renewal fee of $200,000. The Director may issue from four to twelve permits at one time and is directed to issue an amount of permits that would maximize tax revenue collected pursuant to the bill. The Director also is authorized to issue a permit for a major league franchise to conduct in-person sports betting at a newly constructed facility.The bill prohibits betting on Virginia college sports and youth sports. It also prohibits in-play bets on all college sports. The bill prohibits betting by Lottery employees, permit holders and certain related persons, participants in athletic events on which the bet is placed, and persons under age 21. The penalty for engaging in prohibited betting is a Class 1 misdemeanor.The bill prohibits betting on the biometric data of an athlete and includes provisions for Lottery to investigate prohibited conduct, such as attempting to influence an athlete or the outcome of an athletic event.The bill directs the Lottery to establish a voluntary exclusion program, which would allow individuals to request that the Lottery exclude them from engaging in various kinds of betting activity. The bill allows the governing body of a sports league to request that the Lottery (i) limit or prohibit people from betting on events of the league that it governs and (ii) restrict the information sources used to resolve bets that are placed after a sports event has begun.The bill imposes a 20 percent tax on a permit holder's adjusted gross revenue, defined in the bill. The bill authorizes permit holders to carry over and deduct net losses for up to 12 months. The bill creates the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund, administered by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. The Fund would be used to provide counseling to compulsive gamblers, implement problem gambling treatment and prevention programs, and provide grants to organizations that assist problem gamblers. The Fund would be funded by 2.5 percent of the revenue generated from sports betting. The remaining 97.5 percent of tax revenue generated from sports betting would accrue to the general fund.The bill authorizes the Lottery to sell tickets over the Internet. Under current law, it is prohibited from doing so. This bill incorporates HB 911.