The on-again, off-again plan to bring a sprawling casino to Fairfax County, Virginia, is back on — even though many residents don’t want to roll the dice on the proposal.
State Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, a Democrat representing a portion of the county, has revamped and revived a bill that, if approved, would add Fairfax County to the list of localities eligible to host a casino.
A similar bill, also introduced by Surovell, died in a House of Delegates committee last year.
“We’re also losing a couple hundred million dollars a year to the MGM Casino over in (Prince George’s) County, and I can’t stand seeing all that Virginia money going over the bridge to Maryland,” he said. “We’ve got to get that money back in Virginia.”
The sprawling entertainment venue would feature a hotel, a performing arts center, a convention center and a casino.
At the request of Tyson’s residents, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted against the proposal last month. Homeowners fear the complex could bring unwanted traffic and congestion.
In a news release, Paula Martino, president of the Tysons Stakeholders Alliance opposition group, said the reintroduction of a bill backing the casino is disappointing.
“This proposal represents the wrong kind of development for Tysons and ignores the voices of the people who live and work here,” she wrote. “This bill is an attempt to use the same failed legislation as before to get a different result, and Tysons residents will react in the same manner as in previous years.”
State lawmakers have failed to pass consecutive legislation on the issue since 2022. But Surovell said with high real estate taxes and a lack of a large convention center, Fairfax County still needs a way to make more cash.
“The board of supervisors have been asking for decades for more ways to raise money,” he told WTOP. “This project would return about $300 million per year, or about $3 billion per decade, to Fairfax County so they could have that money to support our teachers, firefighters, our first responders, police, and help fund services at the level Fairfax County citizens expect.”
Surovell said the bill requires a referendum, giving voters a final say on the casino.
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