Legislation that would have opened the door to allow a casino along the Silver Line corridor in Fairfax has been taken off the Virginia General Assembly docket, but could potentially be reintroduced in future sessions, says one of the lawmakers behind this year’s bill.
“It was just a quick trial balloon, just to get a discussion started for the locality to see what we could do,” says Sen. David Marsden, D-Fairfax, who withdrew his bill before the Virginia Senate had the chance to vote.
On whether there is potential for the bill to be reintroduced in next year’s session, Marsden says that’s up to what sort of feedback he receives from local government officials.
“It’s totally a local decision, not one for me to make in the legislature,” he says.
Marsden says one of the factors that he believes makes the issue worth considering includes the revenue boost it could bring to the Metro, which he believes is “heading for a fiscal cliff.” Other factors would be bringing back some of the business lost to the MGM Casino in Prince George’s County and turning Tysons into more of a destination for nightlife.
“I just think that the more opportunities you review for your future, the better off you are in terms of making good decisions,” Marsden says. “And this is just one of those opportunities to explore.”
Marsden’s bill was one of two that proposed amending state laws to allow a casino to be built in any county that has a population of over 1 million, and has adopted the urban county executive form of government. Fairfax County is the only county in Northern Virginia that would qualify.
Delegate Wren Williams, R-Patrick, proposed the House of Delegates version.
As soon as each measure made it to its respective committee, it was stopped short. Williams’ bill was stricken from the docket at the Committee on General Laws, and Marsden chose to withdraw his from the Committee on General Laws and Technology after telling the Washington Business Journal he felt that it was “too rushed.”
The presence of casinos in Virginia has been a popular debate in recent years, following the 2020 law that permitted casinos to be built in five cities in need of an economic boost, as long as the residents of those cities voted to allow it.
In 2020, ballot referenda passed in Bristol, Portsmouth, Danville, and Norfolk, which allowed them to begin establishing casinos in their cities. Only Richmond held out, when 51 percent of voters chose “no” on the 2021 referendum.
In January, the Rivers Casino Portsmouth opened in Portsmouth, making it Virginia’s first permanent, free-standing casino.
Feature image courtesy Tomasz Zajda/stock.adobe.com
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