Fairfax casino bill appears to be dead, following subcommittee vote

A bill that would have given Fairfax County the right to hold a casino referendum is likely dead for the 2025 session, after passing a vote last week in the Virginia State Senate.

Senate Bill 982, introduced by Democratic Sen. Scott Surovell, was passed by for the day — in other words, not passed along for a later vote in a committee — in a voice vote of the House Appropriations Committee’s Commerce Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Wednesday. That’s ordinarily not a death knell for legislation, but in this case it could be because that subcommittee is not scheduled to meet again this session.

Surovell’s chief of staff confirmed in an email that “essentially, yes,” the bill is tabled for the year, even though House Appropriations members have the ability to bring back bills for consideration after they have been tabled by a subcommittee.

A similar bill was introduced in 2024 by Sen. Dave Marsden, D-Fairfax, but was killed in the Senate’s finance committee. His bill’s original proposed location was in Reston — a plan backed by developer Comstock Cos., which is developing Reston Station near the Dulles Toll Road. But plans changed to adjust the location near the Spring Hill Metro station in Tysons after senators received pushback from community members.

Under current state law, only five cities in Virginia are allowed to host one casino each: Bristol, Danville, Norfolk, Petersburg and Portsmouth. Voters in each city have passed casino referendums on their ballots, and three casinos are now open in Bristol, Danville and Portsmouth, while Norfolk’s resort is under construction.

Surovell presented his bill Wednesday afternoon to the House subcommittee, saying that he was “tired of Maryland eating our lunch,” referring to the MGM National Harbor Casino in Prince George’s County, Maryland. He said that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors had not taken a position on the bill, although it did say it would like to gain more revenue to go toward school construction and other costs.

Several speakers spoke for and against the bill, including Sen. Jennifer Boysko, who represents part of Fairfax County and acknowledged it was unusual for a senator to visit a House subcommittee to speak against a fellow senator’s bill. However, she spoke on behalf of her “200,000-plus” constituents, who, she said, “were very clear” about their opposition to a potential casino in Tysons.

Many local homeowners groups and other Fairfax County organizations spoke against a casino in Tysons, although some residents and unions supported Surovell’s bill as it would provide employment opportunities.

“The voice of the people was finally heard today,” Paula Martino, president of the Tysons Stakeholders Alliance, said in a statement Wednesday. “Thank you to the members of the Senate who voted no and to the House of Delegates for listening to the thousands of Fairfax County residents who expressed their opposition to the Tysons casino legislation. If this bill had passed, it would have not only wreaked havoc on our county and region, but it would have set a bad precedent in circumventing local authority and the will of the local community.”   

Del. Paul Krizek, D-Fairfax, put forward the motion to pass by the bill, explaining that he felt the state needed a better regulatory framework to address more casinos outside of the five allowed under current state law.