Bill to help relocate Washington Capitals, Wizards sails through 1st Virginia legislative hearing

By SARAH RANKIN and MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Legislation underpinning a plan to relocate the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals across the Potomac River to northern Virginia has easily cleared an early hurdle in the state legislature. Lawmakers on the Virginia House Appropriations Committee on Friday voted 17-3 to advance the measure to the floor of the House of Delegates. The legislation is a top priority of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Though the bill passed overwhelmingly, several senior Democratic legislators took care to say that their support for the measure at this point was in the interest of keeping negotiations over the deal going.