Fairfax casino legislation passes in Va. Senate

A bill to allow Fairfax County residents to hold a casino referendum passed in a Virginia State Senate vote Tuesday. The measure will next go before the Virginia House of Delegates for consideration.

Senate Bill 982, introduced by Sen. Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, passed in a 24-16 vote in the Senate, along bipartisan lines, with some Democrats and Republicans in opposition and others voting yes. The bill previously moved through the Senate General Laws and Technology and Senate Finance committees.

A similar bill was introduced in 2024 by Sen. Dave Marsden, D-Fairfax, but was killed in the Senate’s finance committee last year.

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.

“Virginia residents are already sending billions of dollars per decade to Maryland in the Northern Virginia region by patronizing the MGM National Harbor Casino just over the Maryland state line,” Surovell said in a statement last week after the bill’s passage through the finance committee. “It is time to bring that money back to benefit our state and Fairfax County while building a world-class performing arts venue, a convention center, and creating thousands of union jobs so everyone who works in the county can live in the county. This bill will allow the voters of Fairfax County to decide whether or not the project should move forward.”

However, there is considerable local opposition to a casino, which is proposed to be built in Tysons. The grassroots No Fairfax County Casino Coalition, representing multiple homeowners associations and town councils, went to Richmond during the General Assembly session to lobby lawmakers to vote against the bill, and a group of former federal defense and intelligence officers known as National Security Leaders for Fairfax sent a letter expressing concerns to Fairfax County and state officials in January, The Washington Post reported.

“This Tysons casino legislation continues to be rammed down the throats of Fairfax County and Tysons-area residents, and we don’t want it,” Tysons Stakeholders Alliance President Paula Martino said in a statement Tuesday. “Not one elected official representing Tysons has asked for this casino. County officials did not ask for this casino. Not a single state legislator representing Tysons has asked for this casino.”