Northern Virginia Unions Tout Economic Benefits of Bringing Casino to Tysons

Posted on: October 22, 2024, 04:26h. 

Last updated on: October 23, 2024, 10:01h.

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

Several powerful labor unions and trade groups rallied Tuesday morning in Northern Virginia to bring a casino to Fairfax County by way of Tysons.

Tysons casino Fairfax Northern Virginia
Some members of unions and trade groups in Northern Virginia hope to vote on a Tysons casino in the forthcoming election. However, there is plenty of opposition to allowing a Las Vegas-style resort in Fairfax County. (Image: WSET)

Outside the Fairfax County Government Center before the Board of Supervisors’ Tuesday meeting, members of the Northern Virginia AFL-CIO, Unite Here Local 23, Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, Building Trades Unions, and SEIU Local 32BJ touted the economic and tax benefits that a casino could deliver the region. Assembled as the Fairfax County Jobs Coalition, attendees said a casino would create 5,000 good-paying union jobs with excellent benefits and $350 million in annual new tax revenue.

If you work in a union hotel or union convention center you know you’re going to be making good wages where you only need one job to live in Fairfax County. You can afford to live here with health care and pensions,” said Virginia Diamond, president of the Northern Virginia AFL-CIO.

“We’re out here advocating for the working-class residents of Fairfax County,” Diamond continued. “A union job is a life-changing job.”

Virginia State Sen. David Marsden (D-Fairfax) is expected to reintroduce legislation in January when the General Assembly convenes to designate Tysons as a permissible host city for a casino in the commonwealth. Currently, casinos are only authorized in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Bristol, and Danville.

Legislation passed this year to allow Petersburg to conduct a local ballot referendum to authorize a casino will be determined during next month’s November 5 election.

Jobs, Taxes 

The unions campaigning to bring a casino to Northern Virginia argue that a resort and convention center, along with its many other amenities, would provide invaluable career opportunities for many area residents who are struggling to fend off inflation, higher rents and mortgages, and escalating property taxes.

Marsden says it’s his responsibility to give county voters options to ease rising property taxes, rates he believes will only go higher in the coming years as many of the county’s Fortune 500 companies negotiate new lease terms for their office spaces, with some expected to downsize amid more remote work.

Diamond says a casino would help “lift people out of poverty” in the notoriously expensive county, which is one of the nation’s richest. During the 2020 Census, Fairfax ranked fifth in terms of median household income at $128K. Neighboring Loudoun was first at over $147K.

“Every year my property taxes go up. I know this is going to bring a lot of tax revenue and that would take the load off my back,” said Nelson Aguilar, a county resident and union carpenter. 

Opposition Aplenty

The odds of a casino gaining local referendum support in Fairfax, at least at this juncture, are presumably long at best.

The wealthy residents largely opposed Marsden’s 2024 legislative gaming push, and every homeowners association that has weighed in on the matter has been in opposition. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has also come out in formal opposition to a casino.

The opposition campaign — No Tysons Casino Coalition — plans to hold its own rally this Sunday, October 27. Democratic state Sen. Jennifer Boysko, who represents parts of Fairfax and Loudoun counties, plans to be there.

“This is where Fortune 500 companies make their home. This is not something they want in their community,” Boysko said.