Northern Virginia Casino Bill Expected in January, Referendum Faces Long Odds

Posted on: November 13, 2024, 09:33h. 

Last updated on: November 13, 2024, 09:58h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Legislation to allow residents in Northern Virginia to weigh a commercial casino is expected to be filed when the state’s General Assembly convenes in January.

Northern Virginia casino Fairfax Tysons
An aerial view of Tysons, Va. The legislative push to allow voters in Fairfax County to consider a casino development in the Northern Virginia area is expected when state lawmakers convene in January 2025. (Image: Shutterstock)

Virginia Sen. Dave Marsden (D-Fairfax) is again leading the legislative fight to allow Fairfax County voters to consider a casino undertaking in Tysons. 2025 would mark the third year in a row that Marsden introduced legislation to designate Fairfax as a permissible host location for a commercial casino.

Marsden’s 2024 measure — Senate Bill 675 — was shelved in February by the Senate Finance & Appropriations Resources subcommittee. The subcommittee carried over SB675 to the 2025 session, but the bill isn’t expected to field a favorable vote before the November 18 deadline to automatically place the statute on the 2025 legislative agenda.

As a result, the odds are good that Marsden will file a new version of SB675 when the Senate gathers on January 8. Marsden’s previous Northern Virginia casino bill limited the development to a former auto dealership along Route 7 in Tysons.

Public Polling 

Marsden has slightly curbed his enthusiasm for a Tysons casino after introducing a Fairfax gaming bill in 2022 with little to no input from the public or local officials.

After facing much backlash for the seemingly backroom deal with a regional real estate developer Comstock, and Comstock pouring thousands of dollars into Marsden and other pro-casino lawmakers’ political campaigns, the longtime state senator appears more open to input. Area homeowners associations, town leaders, and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors have all publicly opposed a casino in Tysons.

Marsden says a public poll will soon be conducted to determine if more area residents might support a casino if they understand the economic benefits it could bring, the most crucial being that the casino, resort, and convention facility would generate tens of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue for the county that could help offset increasing property tax rates on homeowners.

Marsden has long defended his casino interest as a way to offset the county’s property tax problem that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fairfax County’s Tysons and McClean are home to some of the world’s largest companies, but some of that office space remains vacant as firms continue to allow for work-from-home and flex workweeks. 

Referendum First

Marsden and his colleagues in Richmond can’t singlehandedly force a casino on Fairfax residents. The state’s 2020 casino law requires that a casino can only be authorized in a county and/or city where a local referendum in support of the project is first realized.

The 2020 gaming law was to generate jobs and taxes in economically challenged areas. Fairfax and Tysons certainly aren’t that, as Northern Virginia is among the most affluent regions in the entire country. But, Marsden believes the county’s tax base should be given options to keep their property taxes from further rising in the coming years as businesses rework their office leases and office buildings potentially become less valuable and their tax liabilities are subsequently reduced.

Proponents of the Northern Virginia casino include numerous area unions. Those trade groups, including the Northern Virginia AFL-CIO, Unite Here Local 23, and Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, believe the resort would create thousands of good-paying jobs and generate critical tax revenue.