It took three attempts by two different patrons, but legislation to potentially allow a casino in Fairfax County appears to be heading toward adoption.
After setting aside a similar bill last year, the Virginia House Appropriations Committee voted 18-4 earlier today (Friday) to advance SB 756, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, to the full chamber.
A bill to make Fairfax County eligible for a casino is advancing through the Virginia House of Delegates after undergoing some significant changes from the version passed by the state Senate earlier this month.
The House’s General Laws Committee voted 12-7 yesterday (Tuesday) to send Senate Bill 756, patroned by Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-34), to the chamber’s appropriations committee. All four delegates representing portions of Fairfax County, including committee chair Del. Paul Krizek (D-16), opposed advancing the legislation.
Fairfax County could benefit economically from a casino-anchored development, but the numbers might be more modest than previously shared projections, an internal review by the county suggests.
A Fairfax County casino would produce an estimated $313.6 million in gaming revenue, delivering $62.1 million in local and state taxes, the county’s Department of Management and Budget said in a summary of a feasibility study it commissioned from the consultant MuniCap.
For a second year in a row, the Virginia Senate will consider legislation that could pave the way for a casino in Fairfax County.
Senate Bill 756, championed by Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-34), was advanced on a 10-5 vote yesterday (Tuesday) by the chamber’s Finance and Appropriations Committee with a key revision — criteria that limited potential casino sites to Tysons have now been dropped.
A Virginia judge ruled Tuesday that a proposed constitutional amendment letting Democrats redraw the state’s Congressional maps was illegal, potentially foiling their efforts to pick up seats in the U.S. House in November.
Tazewell Circuit Court Judge Jack Hurley Jr. struck down the legislature’s actions on three grounds, ruling that lawmakers failed to follow their own rules for adding the redistricting amendment to a special session; failed to approve the amendment before the public began voting in last year’s general election; and failed to publish the amendment three months before the election, as required by law.
Democratic lawmakers on Monday advanced a sweeping slate of gun safety proposals — many of them previously vetoed by former Gov. Glenn Youngkin — as they test whether Virginia’s new Democratic governor, Abigail Spanberger, will take a more favorable view of firearm restrictions.
Over nearly four hours, the Democratic-led Senate Courts of Justice Committee approved more than half a dozen bills tightening rules on assault-style firearms, gun storage, concealed carry reciprocity, ghost guns and weapons in public spaces, while rejecting the lone Republican proposal that would have increased mandatory minimum sentences for repeat firearm offenses.
A Virginia Senate subcommittee has advanced the Tysons casino bill, setting it up for further consideration after its 2025 defeat in a House of Delegates committee.
The Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology voted 5-3 today (Friday) in favor of the legislation from Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-34) to add Fairfax County as an eligible host for a casino.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-34) is once again rolling the dice on legislation to allow a casino in Fairfax County.
A bill that would add the county to Virginia’s list of localities eligible to host a casino was officially introduced yesterday (Tuesday) in the state Senate, which referred it to a Committee on General Laws and Technology.
A requirement established by the Virginia Clean Economy Act could force a Lorton incinerator that converts waste into energy to shut down, undermining the intent of the law, state Sen. Scott Surovell (D-34) says.
The Senate majority leader plans to introduce a bill at the Virginia General Assembly’s upcoming session that would exclude Fairfax County’s I-95 Energy Resource Recovery Facility (9898 Furnace Road) from regulations requiring larger electricity generators to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions, starting in 2031.
The Trump administration on Monday suspended leases for five large-scale offshore wind projects under construction along the East Coast due to what it said were national security risks identified by the Pentagon.
Among the affected projects is Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which has been under construction about 27 miles off of the Virginia Beach coast since 2023.
