Fairfax, Petersburg could hold casino referendums

Two pending Virginia State Senate bills would change the list of locations eligible to host a casino, adding Petersburg and Fairfax County to the mix and removing Richmond.

On Tuesday, the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology’s gaming subcommittee met to discuss these and other measures regarding skill games, sports betting and horse racing. Both casino measures received enough votes to move forward to a full vote of the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee expected Wednesday.

Sen. Dave Marsden, D-Fairfax, sponsored SB 675, a bill that would add Fairfax County to the list of localities that could host a casino in Virginia if voters pass a referendum — although Marsden placed some restrictions on the measure, including that a casino would have to be located within a quarter-mile of an existing Metro station on the Silver Line. Also, the locality’s officials are required to consider a gaming operator’s history of paying prevailing wages to construction workers and entering into labor agreements with unions when awarding the contract.

According to WTOP, if successful, the casino would be placed in Tysons on Route 7 near the Spring Hill Metro station, on land where a car dealership was previously located. Marsden’s legislation previously included the possibility of building a casino in Reston, but after resident opposition, Reston has been excluded from consideration.

Advocating for his bill before the subcommittee, Marsden said that the MGM National Harbor Hotel & Casino in Maryland is “taking $150 million a year out of Virginia coffers,” and that Northern Virginia has suffered financially since the pandemic. He also emphasized that a casino project would include a convention center “that does not exist in Fairfax County. We’re also talking about a hotel, a concert venue and the casino itself.”

Subcommittee member Sen. Christopher Head, R-Roanoke, said he has received “hundreds and hundreds and hundreds” of emails from community members opposed to the Fairfax casino and asked whether Marsden had heard from any community groups that support a casino in Fairfax. Marsden replied that he believes MGM is stirring up opposition to a Tysons casino “to make sure that their interests are preserved, but I’m getting tired of paying for Maryland schools,” referring to Virginians spending money at the MGM casino.

Benita Thompson-Byas, senior vice president of Reston-based Thompson Hospitality, was one of a few speakers in support of a Fairfax casino and said her company would be a minority partner if the casino is approved by voters.

Another subcommittee member, Democratic Sen. Adam Ebbin of Alexandria, said he also has received “hundreds” of emails opposing a casino and said he wouldn’t support the proposal without more input from the Fairfax County government. Marsden said he has been in discussions with Fairfax supervisors who said they would follow through with due diligence if the bill progresses.

Subcommittee member Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy, D-Woodbridge, said she would vote for the bill, noting that a referendum gives Fairfax voters the ultimate choice on the matter. “They are the best ones to decide,” she said. The bill ended in a 4-4 tie, sending it to the Senate General Laws committee for a vote.

Meanwhile, Sens. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, and Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, are chief co-sponsors of SB 628, which would replace Richmond with Petersburg on the list of cities eligible to host a casino if city voters pass a referendum. No one spoke in opposition to the bill, which passed the subcommittee and will go forward for a committee vote.

Aird emphasized Petersburg’s high poverty rates and aging infrastructure as factors in the city’s favor. “Petersburg needs a transformative economic development opportunity to generate immediate revenue and provide long-term benefits,” she said. Several people representing a hospitality workers’ union wore red T-shirts and sat in the audience, showing support for the measure.

Also, Sen. Lamont Bagby, D-Richmond, sponsored SB 541 removing Richmond as an eligible host city, which passed the subcommittee unanimously. Sen. Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, sponsored a measure to reduce the number of casino-eligible cities from five to four, but struck the bill earlier Tuesday and instead supported the measure allowing Petersburg to vote on a referendum.

Republican Sen. Bryce Reeves sponsored a bill, SB 345, that would block a city from holding a second casino referendum within three years if a first referendum fails. That bill passed with seven ayes and one no vote.

Measures removing Richmond as a casino-eligible city were clear responses to last fall’s second unsuccessful referendum in Richmond to establish the $562 million Richmond Grand Resort & Casino on the city’s South Side. About 61% of city voters said “no” on November 2023 ballots to the do-over referendum, a much larger margin than in the 2021 vote, which was narrowly defeated by about 1,500 votes. During the 2023 session, Del. Kim Taylor, R-Petersburg, and former state Sen. Joe Morrissey, D-Petersburg, tried unsuccessfully to get a casino referendum on Petersburg’s ballots and prevent a second vote in Richmond.

Also under consideration Tuesday was SB 124, a bill from VanValkenburg that would permit betting on Virginia college sports, except for proposition betting, such as point spreads; under current law, the state allows betting on all college sports except those played by Virginia college athletes. Illegal betting is currently a class 1 misdemeanor in Virginia. The bill passed the subcommittee and will next be voted on by the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee.

Another measure, SB 212, would create a regulatory infrastructure for so-called “skill game” machines (also called “gray machines”) in Virginia convenience stores and other small businesses. Sponsored by Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, the bill would direct the state tax department to collect a 15% monthly tax from the gross revenue of every skill game machine. As of Tuesday, the bill has been re-referred to Senate Finance and Appropriations. SB 307, a bill sponsored by Democratic Sen. Jeremy McPike, would impose a 34% tax on all gross profits from gaming devices and would send most tax proceeds to the state’s general fund. The vote was postponed to make further adjustments to the bill.