Laws to permit residents in Northern Virginia to weigh a industrial on line casino is anticipated to be filed when the state’s Basic Meeting convenes in January.
An aerial view of Tysons, Va. The legislative push to permit voters in Fairfax County to contemplate a on line casino growth within the Northern Virginia space is anticipated when state lawmakers convene in January 2025. (Picture: Shutterstock)
Virginia Sen. Dave Marsden (D-Fairfax) is once more main the legislative battle to permit Fairfax County voters to contemplate a on line casino enterprise in Tysons. 2025 would mark the third 12 months in a row that Marsden launched laws to designate Fairfax as a permissible host location for a industrial on line casino.
Marsden’s 2024 measure — Senate Invoice 675 — was shelved in February by the Senate Finance & Appropriations Assets subcommittee. The subcommittee carried over SB675 to the 2025 session, however the invoice isn’t anticipated to area a good vote earlier than the November 18 deadline to routinely place the statute on the 2025 legislative agenda.
Because of this, the percentages are good that Marsden will file a brand new model of SB675 when the Senate gathers on January 8. Marsden’s earlier Northern Virginia on line casino invoice restricted the event to a former auto dealership alongside Route 7 in Tysons.
Public Polling
Marsden has barely curbed his enthusiasm for a Tysons on line casino after introducing a Fairfax gaming invoice in 2022 with little to no enter from the general public or native officers.
After going through a lot backlash for the seemingly backroom take care of a regional actual property developer Comstock, and Comstock pouring hundreds of {dollars} into Marsden and different pro-casino lawmakers’ political campaigns, the longtime state senator seems extra open to enter. Space householders associations, city leaders, and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors have all publicly opposed a on line casino in Tysons.
Marsden says a public ballot will quickly be performed to find out if extra space residents may help a on line casino in the event that they perceive the financial advantages it may deliver, probably the most essential being that the on line casino, resort, and conference facility would generate tens of tens of millions of {dollars} in annual tax income for the county that would assist offset growing property tax charges on householders.
Marsden has lengthy defended his on line casino curiosity as a approach to offset the county’s property tax drawback that was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fairfax County’s Tysons and McClean are dwelling to a few of the world’s largest corporations, however a few of that workplace house stays vacant as companies proceed to permit for work-from-home and flex workweeks.
Referendum First
Marsden and his colleagues in Richmond can’t singlehandedly power a on line casino on Fairfax residents. The state’s 2020 on line casino regulation requires {that a} on line casino can solely be licensed in a county and/or metropolis the place a neighborhood referendum in help of the venture is first realized.
The 2020 gaming regulation was to generate jobs and taxes in economically challenged areas. Fairfax and Tysons definitely aren’t that, as Northern Virginia is among the many most prosperous areas in all the nation. However, Marsden believes the county’s tax base needs to be given choices to maintain their property taxes from additional rising within the coming years as companies rework their workplace leases and workplace buildings probably grow to be much less precious and their tax liabilities are subsequently lowered.
Proponents of the Northern Virginia on line casino embrace quite a few space unions. These commerce teams, together with the Northern Virginia AFL-CIO, Unite Right here Native 23, and Fairfax County Federation of Academics, consider the resort would create hundreds of good-paying jobs and generate vital tax income.
