Discussion of legislation permitting a referendum on a Tysons casino has moved to the powerful House Committee on Appropriations.
Members of the House Committee on Local Government were directed by Speaker Don Scott (D-88) yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) to send the bill to the chamber’s appropriations committee without acting on it.
There was no public testimony taken on the casino bill at that meeting, but Del. Holly Seibold (D-12), who represents the Vienna and Tysons area, did get her views in.
“The constituents in my district … didn’t ask for this casino, nor do they want one,” she said.
The committee then voted unanimously to cede control of the bill to the appropriations committee, which meets on Wednesdays and Fridays. The committee’s meeting today, however, has been canceled, according to its website.
The bill, patroned by Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-34), passed the Senate on Feb. 4 on a 24-16 vote. If enacted into law, it would add Fairfax County and specifically Tysons to the areas in Virginia where casino gaming could be allowed.
The bill would permit, but not require, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to hold a referendum on the issue. Only if voters passed the measure would the proposal move forward.
Comstock Companies aims to place the casino on a parcel along Leesburg Pike (Route 7) that it controls as part of a larger entertainment-focused development envisioned for the site.
Surovell’s bill doesn’t specify the individual parcel where a casino would go, or the operator. It gives general geographic and population guidelines that largely limit the location to Tysons along Metro’s Silver Line corridor.
In addition to the Spring Hill Metro station site, the long-vacant parking lot near Tysons Galleria owned by Lerner Enterprises would meet the criteria, Surovell noted when his bill went to the Senate floor last week. Currently known as Lerner Town Square, the parcel at 8025 Galleria Drive has been approved for development, but in recent years, it has primarily been used for circuses and other special events.
Tysons would be a replacement in state law for Richmond, where voters twice rejected casino referendums. Virginia’s capital city was removed from the list of eligible localities last year after the second rejection in the 2023 general election.
Similar legislation last year, patroned by Sen. Dave Marsden (D-35), was deferred during the General Assembly’s 2024 session and then killed off later in the year.
