A long-simmering push to allow a casino in Fairfax County is advancing again, this time with broader parameters than past attempts.
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The legislation to allow a casino to be built in the county of more than 1 million people, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, whose district includes part of Fairfax, passed the Virginia Senate by a vote of 23-14 on Friday.
Surovell, a Democrat, has pushed for the past four years for a change in state law to allow a casino in Fairfax County, but a previous version of the bill included a requirement it be built along Metro's Silver Line in Tysons. The Senate Finance and Appropriations Resources Subcommittee stripped that requirement from this year's bill before advancing it out of committee.
The bill's next stop is the state's House of Delegates, where it was killed last year. If it passes, it would need to be signed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger, then approved as a ballot referendum by the county’s Board of Supervisors before eventually heading to a public vote.
Like last year’s version, the bill requires the casino be part of a mixed-use project totaling at least 1.5M SF.
But the requirements that it be located within a quarter-mile of a Silver Line Metro station, within 2 miles of a regional enclosed mall and outside the I-495 Beltway — limiting sites exclusively to the Tysons area of the county — were stricken.
Senators in favor of the bill argued on the Senate floor Friday that a casino would act as a vital source of tax revenue, specifically for school construction across Fairfax County, the Washington Business Journal reported.
Surovell told NBC4 on Thursday the revenue from the casino would help shore up the county’s budget shortfall as its vast swathes of suburban offices have shedded value since the pandemic.
“Fairfax needs a different economic development strategy,” Surovell said. “They need to attract other businesses, other industries. Commercial office isn’t doing it anymore.”
But advocates are up against the task of changing the minds of public officials who already have a history of voting against the casino proposal.
After its passage, Fairfax County Supervisor Jimmy Bierman, who represents Dranesville, issued a statement describing it as a “silly bill that no one wants” and urging members of the Fairfax County delegations to vote “nay.”
“Apparently it's Groundhog Day in Richmond again,” Bierman wrote. “The Board of Supervisors has made clear that we have no interest in a bill that continues to treat our residents as Richmond's ATM while we have to pay for the negative effects of a casino in our community.”
Developer Comstock Cos. has spent millions lobbying for the casino legislation as it has angled to be the firm to build it.
The Reston-based company in January 2025 pitched a development of up to 8M SF near the Spring Hill Metro station. Bisnow reported at the time that Wynn Resorts was in talks with the developer, after a released rendering showed an Encore-branded building at the development. A Wynn spokesperson said at the time it was no longer pursuing a casino at the project.
Comstock didn't respond to Bisnow's request for comment Monday on this year's version of the legislation.
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