With casinos popping up on Virginia’s southern border, some lawmakers now wish to discover whether or not rich northern Virginia ought to get in on the motion.
State Sen. David Marsden, D-Fairfax, is planning to re-introduce laws that will permit Fairfax County to carry a referendum on constructing a on line casino. He launched related laws final 12 months that went nowhere. This 12 months, although, his proposal envisions way over a on line casino and features a conference heart, live performance corridor, lodge, and different facilities.
Marsden’s most well-liked location is Tysons Nook, a suburb of the nation’s capital only a few miles from the Maryland border and a middle of wealth that’s already residence to profitable high-end procuring malls and retail. Whereas that space makes essentially the most sense to Marsden, the laws would permit the county to choose a web site anyplace close to one of many Silver Line Metro stations, together with Reston.
Inserting a on line casino and leisure on the Silver Line might be a boon to Dulles Airport, which received its personal Silver Line station final 12 months, Marsden stated. It will additionally deliver union jobs and the labor foyer is anticipated to be on board, he added.
Fairfax County has been the state’s financial engine for many years. But it surely’s going through a crunch in its business tax base as demand for workplace house has diminished post-pandemic. The county must be sensible concerning the want for change and the income potential that on line casino playing may deliver, stated Marsden.
“I don’t like the lottery. I don’t like any of it. But we have to be practical, not naive,” he stated, including that Virginia shouldn’t go away its wealthiest area out of the equation relating to gaming income.
The push for a northern Virginia on line casino comes at a time when voters have been skeptical. Referenda for a on line casino in Richmond and a slots parlor in Manassas Park failed in November with roughly 58 % of voters saying no in each cities.
Marsden, although, stated Richmond’s rejection of a on line casino creates a possibility for Fairfax County to fill the void.
‘Bad politics’
On line casino opponents are unmoved. Fairfax County Supervisor Walter Alcorn, who represents the Reston space, stated placing a on line casino alongside the Silver Line is a waste of the area’s most beneficial actual property.
It’s the uncommon constituent who tells him they need a on line casino within the county, stated Alcorn. Merely permitting a referendum can also be problematic, he stated, as a result of the amount of cash pro-casino pursuits can throw at a poll measure..
“It’s bad politics,” he stated.
On line casino supporters seem like mounting a well-financed lobbying effort, he stated. Company officers with Comstock, a developer with whom Marsden has been engaged on the on line casino effort, have shaped a political motion committee, Constructing a Exceptional Virginia, that has raised a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars} in current months.
Calls and emails to Comstock and the political motion committee looking for remark weren’t returned.
Casinos have been accepted and opened in Danville, Bristol and Portsmouth after laws authorizing them, topic to native voter approval, licensed them in 2020. Voters in Norfolk additionally accepted a on line casino however the venture remains to be going via the approval course of.
A examine commissioned in 2019 by the the Joint Legislative Audit and Evaluation Committee discovered {that a} northern Virginia on line casino may generate $155 million yearly in tax income, practically double the income projected for a Richmond on line casino.
Marsden’s invoice has help on the state and native stage.
Incoming Senate Majority Chief Scott Surovell stated it’s irritating that Maryland generates tax income to pay for its faculties with casinos that draw closely on Virginia for his or her buyer base.
He acknowledged that views are divided within the Basic Meeting and a few are against casinos however stated that historically lawmakers have proven willingness to cross payments that allow native jurisdictions make the choice for themselves.
At a neighborhood stage, a number of members of the county board of supervisors expressed willingness to help a referendum.
Neighbors name it ‘unwholesome’
Pat Herrity, the board’s lone Republican, stated that laws pairing a on line casino with a badly wanted conference heart deserves actual consideration. He stated a number of builders have expressed curiosity in bidding on a venture.’Pat Herrity, the board’s lone Republican, stated that laws pairing a on line casino with a badly wanted conference heart deserves actual consideration. He stated a number of builders have expressed curiosity in bidding on a venture.
Dalia Palchik, who represents Tysons Nook, stated no person has approached her about supporting a on line casino venture in her district. However she stated she loves the thought of drawing a conference heart to Tysons, and is open to laws that will permit citizen enter via a referendum and the common county approval course of.
“Definitely the devil is in the details with this one,” she stated.
The board’s chairman, Jeff McKay, was noncommittal. He stated that there was nothing to take a place on, as a result of no laws has been formally launched but.
That didn’t cease the Vienna City Council, although, from issuing a decision earlier this month making opposition to a on line casino a prime precedence. Councilmembers stated the city, which abuts Tysons Nook, may endure damaging visitors and different unintended penalties. One councilman, Howard Springsteen, stated casinos deliver “an unwholesome community.”
Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s workplace declined touch upon whether or not he would signal a on line casino invoice.
